SEOUL (Thomson Financial) - A patent court in South Korea on Thursday ruled
in favour of five local pharmaceutical companies involved in a dispute with
multinational Pfizer, company officials said.
The court upheld a lower court ruling, which dismissed claims by the global
drugmaker that the five firms breached its patent for the cholesterol-lowering
drug Lipitor.
Pfizer said it would appeal to the Supreme Court.
"We are hopeful that a higher court will reverse the ruling to reinstate the
... patent in South Korea," country manager Ahmet Goksun said in a statement.
The Korean Intellectual Property Tribunal in July last year ruled in favour
of the local companies, which include Dong-A Pharmaceutical and Boryung
Pharmaceutical. The tribunal invalidated the patent related to Lipitor.
Although the original patent for the drug expired in May last year, Pfizer
extended it to 2013 by modifying the patent.
"It's another victory for local drugmakers against 'evergreen' patent
tactics by multinational companies," Ahn So-Young, a lawyer representing the
South Korean firms, told journalists.
"Evergreen" refers to a tactic for brand-name companies to extend patent
protection and fend off competition from generic drugmakers.
It marked the second victory this month for South Korean drugmakers in
patent disputes with multinationals.
On June 9 French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis lost a lawsuit against Boryung
Pharmaceutical over its treatment for colorectal cancer.
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