Johnson & Johnson has sought to pre-empt negative online attention for its birth control patch, Ortho Evra, by registering negative domain names, including such morbid-sounding ones such as Deathbypatch.com and Orthoevrakills.com, according to MediaPost.

J&J's Ortho McNeil Pharmaceuticals unit makes and markets many of the top-selling brands of birth control pill, including Ortho-Cyclen, Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, and Ortho-Novum. Ortho Evra, however, is facing consumer lawsuits claiming it causes blood clots and strokes.

Though none of the domains purchased by J&J were in use, it's possible they eventually would have been, likely by litigators. "It's really a best practice move," says Larry Mickelberg, SVP of marketing at interactive pharmaceutical agency Medical Broadcasting Co. - now Digitas Health (as of yesterday).

J&J's damage control may in part come from watching Merck's experience with Vioxx, its arthritis drug which is now off the market. Websites with names like Vioxxlitigation.com, Vioxxlawyers.com and others were referenced by medical malpractice attorneys in TV spot ads.