matters, and patent infringement claims. If the indemnified party were to make a successful claim pursuant to the terms of the indemnification, we would be required to reimburse the loss. These indemnifications are generally subject to threshold amounts, specified claim periods and other restrictions and limitations. Historically, we have not paid significant amounts under these provisions and, as of December 31, 2008, recorded amounts for the estimated fair value of these indemnifications are not significant.

Certain of our co-promotion or license agreements give our licensors or partners the rights to negotiate for, or in some cases to obtain, under certain financial conditions, co-promotion or other rights in specified countries with respect to certain of our products.

Dividends on Common Stock

We declared dividends of $8.6 billion in 2008 and $8.2 billion in 2007 on our common stock. In December 2008, our Board of Directors declared a first-quarter 2009 dividend of $0.32 per share. The first-quarter 2009 cash dividend will be our 281st consecutive quarterly dividend. In January 2009, in connection with the proposed merger between Pfizer and Wyeth, the Board of Directors determined that, effective with the dividend to be paid in the second quarter of 2009, it will reduce our quarterly dividend per share to $0.16. The merger agreement prohibits us from declaring a quarterly dividend on our common stock in excess of $0.16 per share without Wyeth’s consent prior to the completion of the transaction.

Our current and projected dividends provide a return to shareholders while maintaining sufficient capital to invest in growing our businesses and increasing shareholder value, including through the proposed acquisition of Wyeth. Our dividends are funded from operating cash flows, our financial asset portfolio and short-term commercial paper borrowings and are not restricted by debt covenants. We believe that our profitability and access to financial markets provide sufficient capability for us to pay current and future dividends.