24th Jan 2005 07:00
Appeals Court Rules in Pfizer's Favor in Patent Challenge to Zoloft NEW YORK, Jan. 24 -- Pfizer Inc said today that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in the company's favor in a lawsuit by generic manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals challenging Pfizer's patent for its antidepressant Zoloft. In its decision, the court upheld an earlier ruling in Pfizer's favor by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Teva filed the action seeking a declaratory judgment of non-infringement or invalidity of Pfizer's U.S. Patent 5,248,699 covering a crystalline form of sertraline, the active ingredient in Zoloft. In that ruling in December 2003, Judge Richard G. Stearns dismissed Teva's lawsuit because Pfizer had not accused Teva of infringing its Zoloft patent and Teva had no reasonable basis to expect Pfizer would do so. "Pfizer is pleased with today's decision by the Court of Appeals to maintain its longstanding approach to these kinds of suits," said Jeff Kindler, Pfizer executive vice president and general counsel. "This is an important decision both for Pfizer and our innovation-based industry." SOURCE Pfizer Inc 01/24/2005 /CONTACT: Paul Fitzhenry of Pfizer Inc, 212-733-4637/ /Company News On-Call: Pfizer's press releases are available through PR Newswire's Company News On-Call service on PRN's Web Site. Visit http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/688250.html/ /Photo: A free corporate logo to accompany this story is available immediately via Wieck Photo Database to any media with telephoto receiver or electronic darkroom, PC or Macintosh, that can accept overhead transmissions. To retrieve a logo, please call 972- 392-0888./ /Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/688250.html / /Web site: http://www.pfizer.com / (PFE) ENDRelated Shares:
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