Sanofi-aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb have jointly announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld the June 19, 2007 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York holding the U.S. patent 4,847,265 covering clopidogrel bisulphate, the active ingredient in Plavix®, valid and enforceable. As a result of this ruling, the ‘265 patent protection for this product is maintained in the United States until November 2011. Sanofi-aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb are seeking damages from Apotex, in reparation of harm caused by that company’s marketing and sale of an infringing generic version of Plavix® in 2006.
