Beijing High Court rules Viagra's patent valid

December 5, 2007

The Beijing Municipal People’s High Court made the final verdict on October 27, withdrawing the patent invalidation decision on Pfizer Viagra (local name “Weige”) made by the Patent Review Committee of SIPO. The patent owner Pfizer Pharmaceuticals thus won the lawsuit which lasted for over six years.

SIPO granted Viagra with the patent certificate in September, 2001. Meanwhile, Mr. Pan Huaping, and later 12 Chinese companies jointly appealed to the Patent Review Committee under SIPO to announce the patent invalid, holding that the Viagra Patent is not in line with the Article 26(3) of Chinese Patent Law. After nearly 3 years of reviewing, the Patent Review Committee withdrew the patent, and its owner Pfizer appealed to Beijing Municipal People’s Intermediate Court. Last October, the court made the verdict in the first instance in favor of Viagra, and then the Chinese companies appealed to the Beijing Municipal People’s High Court again.

At present, the high court still upholds the intermediate court's verdict, and the committee will soon review the Viagra Patent again.