Shanghai, June 5:

A Beijing court has upheld drug giant Pfizer’s patent for Viagra, ruling against the country’s patent review board in a case considered pivotal for countering piracy of pharmaceuticals.

An official at the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court on Monday confirmed the decision but said she could not provide other information. She refused to give her name, which is common practice among Chinese bureaucrats.

It was unclear how the patent review board at China’s State Intellectual Property Office would react to the decision. Staff at SIPO said they had no comment. Usually, appeals of Chinese court decisions must be made within 15 days.

New York-based Pfizer Inc had appealed in 2004 against a decision by the patent review board supporting the claims of at least a dozen Chinese drug companies for the right

to make sildenafil citrate, the main active ingredient in the anti-erectile dysfunction drug Viagra.

Pfizer’s situation has been seen as a test of China’s willingness to protect the intellectual property rights of foreign companies.

Most drugs with the “Viagra” label sold in China are counterfeit versions. Viagra was introduced in China in 2000, and after six months on the market, state media reported that some 90 per cent of Viagra pills sold in Shanghai were fake.

China is a potentially huge market for the little blue pill, known locally as “weige,” or “great brother” in Chinese, given the country’s tradition of using various substances to boost sexual performance.

Pfizer’s spokesman in China referred inquiries to the company’s New York headquarters.

Local drug makers have stepped up patent challenges in hopes of being allowed to market generic copies.