US court sides with Mylan in Norvasc patent battle

NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) - Mylan Laboratories Inc. MYL.N on Tuesday said a federal appeals court has reversed a lower court ruling that had favored Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) in a patent battle over Pfizer's Norvasc blood-pressure drug.

Mylan said the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the decision for Pfizer that had been made in February by the district court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

The lower court had upheld the validity of Pfizer's U.S patent covering the active ingredient of Norvasc. But Mylan launched its generic form of the medicine, whose chemical name is amlodipine, in late March after the federal appeals court decided that claims 1-3 of Pfizer's so-called '303 patent were invalid.

((Reporting by Ransdell Pierson, editing by Martin Golan; Reuters Messaging: ransdell.pierson.reuters.com@reuters.net; 646-223-6034; ransdell.pierson@reuters.com)) Keywords: MYLAN PFIZER/NORVASC

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