The Hindu Business Line : US Court gives clean chit to Ranbaxy on Ceftin patent dispute

A US Court has found that Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd's Cefuroxime Axetil product, a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) antibiotic Ceftin, did not infringe Glaxo's patent.

As a result, the Indian drug maker will not have to pay any damages to Glaxo.

GSK had brought the matter before the US District Court of New Jersey in October of 2000. The District Court originally granted GSK a preliminary injunction that initially kept Ranbaxy from marketing its antibiotic.

However in 2001, Ranbaxy prevailed on its appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Ranbaxy commercially launched its product after that Court vacated the preliminary injunction. "Now, after a full trial, the district court determined that Ranbaxy's product does not infringe GSK's patent rights and Ranbaxy is not required to pay any damages to GSK," said a company statement here today

According to Mr Jay R. Deshmukh, Vice-President, Intellectual Property, Worldwide, Ranbaxy, "This is a major victory for the company, and we are thrilled with the outcome in this case."

Analysts tracking the sector said that if the Court had asked Ranbaxy to pay damages to GSK, it could have had a negative impact on the company. "Since that has not happened, the company's operations in the US will not be hit," they added. Ranbaxy reported sales of $134.8 million in 2003 for the US market and Cefuroxime is an important product in Ranbaxy's portfolio.

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