A Beijing court on Wednesday upheld the validity of Pfizer's patent for Viagra in China and ordered two Chinese companies to pay compensation for infringing their registered trademark.

 

The Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court ordered Beijing Health New Concept Pharmacy Co. Ltd. to stop selling pills similar to Viagra and the Jiangsu-based Lianhuan Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to cease production of them and pay 300,000 yuan (US$38,363).

 

Pfizer sued the two companies in September 2005, claiming "Weige," the Chinese name for Viagra, which they produced and sold, infringed on the drug's registered trademark.??

 

Pfizer also sued Guangzhou Viaman Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., which produced another anti-impotence drug registered as "Weige" in 1998, and claimed Viaman assisted in the infringement actions of?the Beijing and Jiangsu companies.

 

The court found there was no evidence to show that Viaman assisted with the infringements of the other two companies.

 

Viagra is used to treat erectile dysfunction and is one the most popularly prescribed drugs in the world. Pfizer was awarded the patent for Viagra in China in 2003.

 

Viagra, developed by the US drugmaker Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, is one of the most counterfeited drugs in the world. In January the Chinese authorities cracked such a case in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, involving 280,000 fake Viagra pills with a value of more than 238 million yuan (US$30 million).

 

Erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra and Cialis were approved by the Ministry of Health and the State Food and Drug Administration as prescription drugs in 1999.

 

Pfizer global sales of Viagra were valued at US$1.65 billion in 2005.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2006)