Pfizer has won its latest battle against generic copies of its famous Viagra erectile dysfunction medicine. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd had not shown clear and convincing evidence that the patent, which will protect Viagra from copies until 2019, was invalid. One patent expires in March 2012 but the court judgment will extend the time Pfizer will be able to benefit from its intellectual property rights. To put these rights in perspective Pfizer sold $965 million worth of Viagra in the first half of this year(2011).

Viagra has had more media attention than almost any other drug. Pfizer attorney Daniel P. DiNapoli said "Part of the reason for that, no doubt, is the subject matter to which Viagra relates - sex. But there were ED treatments before Viagra, and none of them received the attention that Viagra has received.

"And what distances Viagra from these other ED treatments is that Viagra is an effective oral treatment for erectile dysfunction, an ED pill. Pfizer's success with Viagra was the end result of a long research and development project."