UPDATE 1-US court reinstates Teva herpes drug patent case

(Adds background, details)

By Peter Kaplan

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday reversed a lower court ruling and reinstated a patent case filed by generic drugmaker Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TEVA.TA) involving Novartis AG's (NOVN.VX) genital herpes drug, Famvir.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said a U.S. district court in New Jersey erred when it dismissed Teva's (TEVA.O) lawsuit.

Representatives of the two companies could not immediately be reached for comment.

The appeals court, which specializes in hearing patent cases, said Teva has grounds to challenge the patents at issue in the case, in part because Novartis has sued Teva alleging infringement of a related patent.

In 2004 Teva filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell a generic version of Famvir. Novartis later filed suit, charging that Teva infringed on one of its five patents on the drug.

Teva sought to challenge all five patents, but the district court threw out its case related to the four patents for which Novartis did not sue.

The appeals court cited a recent Supreme Court decision that gives generic drugmakers more leeway to challenge patents in some cases.

((Reporting by Peter Kaplan, editing by J.S. Benkoe/Jane Baird; Reuters Messaging: peter.kaplan.reuters.com@reuters.net; email: peter.kaplan@reuters.com; +1 202 898 8463, fax: +1 202 898 8383)) Keywords: TEVA PATENT/

(C) Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution ofReuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuterssphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group ofcompanies around the world.nN30263852