US drug maker Pfizer Inc has launched an appeal in a Beijing court against a ruling revoking the China patent of its male impotency drug Viagra, state media reported yesterday.
Pfizer wants the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court to order the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) to withdraw its decision to cancel the patent last year, the China Daily said.
Revoked
The company obtained a patent license for its erectile dysfunction treatment in 2001 only to see it revoked by SIPO last July after Chinese experts reviewed complaints by 12 Chinese pharmaceutical companies.
Concerns
The case has caused widespread concern over intellectual property rights protection for overseas enterprises in China.
SIPO claims that Pfizer was in breach of intellectual property law because it failed to accurately explain the uses of the pill's key ingredient, sildenafil citrate.
Pfizer's lawyer Tai Hong argued the patent directions were sufficient and claimed the revocation was "an erroneous application of the law."
The court is considering the appeal, the newspaper said.
Cheaper version
State media has previously reported that 17 Chinese pharmaceutical companies were planning to set up a joint-stock company to make an erectile dysfunction drug that would cost 40-50 yuan (US$4.8 to US$6) per tablet.
The Pfizer product costs 99 yuan.
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