Pfizer Protecting The Viagra Patent

In a move that was expected and has probably been plotted by the high echelons of Pfizer for the last few months, the American drug giant has finally taken legal action against a Chinese drug firm that has been constantly ignoring the copyright that Pfizer holds on the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra.  Viagra has been openly made in China for many years now and Pfizer spent millions trying to get its copyright established in the country. After many legal battles and rulings Pfizer finally won a legal ruling in June 2006 that upheld the Chinese patent on the sildenafil drug that had been originally granted in 2001 but had been overturned after much opposition from Chinese drug firms who were keen to cash in on the desire for the drug and to make generic versions of it.

In the landmark case that was seen as precedent for all copyright infringement cases in China the Viagra impotence medicine was ruled to be the intellectual property of Pfizer and it is on this basis that Pfizer is now taking the Guangzhou Welman drug company to court. A verdict has yet to be delivered but Ukmedix will be keeping its eye out for more news from the world’s most populated nation.

Pfizer was keen to win the original case as China could prove to be the most lucrative erectile dysfunction drug market in the future and earn Pfizer millions in royalties. Chinese drug firms had been reasonably confident before the June ruling that they would win the legal battle with Pfizer and were reported to have invested as much as 12 million dollars in making generic versions of Viagra that were selling well.

The real test of the Chinese legal system and how it applies its patent laws will be when the ruling on this case is delivered and what sort of legal remedy is administered.