Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (Public, BOM: 500359) has been favored by a Norwegian court recently in its case against Pfizer (Public, NYSE: PFE) that involved two patents on atorvastatin in Norway.
Atorvastatin is a cholesterol-lowering drug marketed by Pfizer under the brand name Lipitor®.
The Oslo City Court favored Ranbaxy upon finding non-infringement of two of Pfizer's Norwegian patents (No. 177,566 and No. 180,199) covering particular intermediate compounds.
Last November 2005, the Norwegian Court found Ranbaxy's atorvastatin product not to infringe one of Pfizer's process patents (No. 309,322) but to infringe another of Pfizer's patents (No. 177,706) covering a particular intermediate compound.
Thus, Ranbaxy has appealed to the Norwegian Court of Appeals against the negative judgment on the one remaining intermediate compound patent.
Source: Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited"This is a most important decision for Ranbaxy, as it significantly validates our position regarding the atorvastatin patents," said Jay Deshmukh, Senior Vice President, Global Intellectual Property for RLL.
"We will continue to actively pursue all of our options in Norway and other markets in order to bring affordable atorvastatin to patients around the world."
Comment Preview