Pfizer took the issue to the court and eventually won

You may remember about six months ago that the world’s largest drug manufacturer Pfizer who make the world famous erectile dysfunction medication Viagra won a landmark court case in China regarding the intellectual copyright of the drug. The case which had been going on for many years became extremely complicated as different law enforcement authorities in China battled and argued. As many as twelve different drug companies in China also had future interest in the outcome of the case as they were busy using the sildenafil citrate compound (Viagra’s key ingredient) to make their own versions of Viagra.

The biggest thorn in the side of Pfizer was the Intellectual Property Office’s Patent Review Board of the Chinese state which had always been on the side of the Chinese drug manufacturers and refused to allow Pfizer to register their patent in China for the sildenafil citrate drug. Pfizer took the issue to the court and eventually won however the Patent Review Board still refused to withdraw its opposition to Pfizer owning the patent for sildenafil citrate. The good news is that just recently the Beijing People’s Higher Court has ordered the Patent Review Board to withdraw its objection to registering the Viagra patent for Pfizer.

China is known to be the country which produces the largest amount of fake Viagra in the world and one of the reasons for this is that until recently Chinese drug companies were allowed to produce it legally with no objections from the Chinese health authorities. The Chinese government is under a lot of pressure from western governments to enforce international intellectual property patents and many business analysts said that the Viagra patent ruling was designed to send a clear signal that the Chinese government will now respect these patents and this could greatly boost foreign investment into the country.