Pfizer ($PFE) has always been proud of its design of Viagra, which has become known worldwide for its blue color and diamond shape. It thinks enough of it that it is fighting a pitched legal battle in Korea with drugmaker Hanmi Pharmaceutical over the shape of Hanmi's generic, which has grabbed nearly half the market there.
According to The Korea Times, Pfizer last year filed the trademark infringement case against the Korea-based Hanmi about 5 months after Pfizer's patent lapsed there and generics swept the market. The drugmaker says Hanmi could have picked another design but instead, its pill is "almost a carbon-copy design, a blue diamond-like shape with round edges," as an official explained to the newspaper. One court found that because Hanmi's packaging was different, Pfizer's claim was invalid. But appeals have moved the lawsuit up the legal hierarchy.
Hanmi's contention is that Pfizer is just unhappy because its generic now has 45% of the market for erectile dysfunction drugs, compared to Viagra's 40% share. The patent for Viagra expired in Korea in May 2012 and more than 50 generics hit the market. Hanmi is reportedly selling its copycat at a third of the cost of branded Viagra.
Viagra continues to be a big seller for Pfizer, bringing in about $2 billion last year. Through litigation, Pfizer has extended the patent for Viagra in the U.S. to 2020, but half of Pfizer's Viagra sales occur in international markets. It lost its patent for the drug in Europe this year.
The drugmaker noted the effects of generic competition in its last quarter. It reported that European Viagra copies took an 11% toll on that brand, leaving its total sales at $460 million for the quarter. Revatio (sildenafil), the Viagra twin aimed at pulmonary arterial hypertension, sank 44% on copycat competition. That was just one reason the drugmaker reported a 2% drop off in global sales to $12.6 billion in the last quarter.
- read the Korea Times story