Spanish patent piracy victory for Takeda

In Spain, the Barcelona Court of First Instance No 12 has issued adecision which indicates success for Japanese drugmaker Takeda in patent litigation involving its antiulcer compound lansoprazole filed against the Spanish firm Centro Genesis para Investigacion SL. The lawsuit against Centro Genesis, which was planning to manufacture and offer generic lansoprazole to a Spanish company, was initiated by Takeda in March 1994.

Based on Centro Genesis' violation of Takeda's Spanish patent no 546,152 (claiming a process of producing lansoprazole), the Court has ordered the Spanish firm to refrain from offering, manufacturing, commercializing or selling this compound in Spain. The Court has also ordered Centro Genesis, at its own cost, to publish the present decision in at least two nationwide newspapers and in two specialist journals.

Subsequent to the Court ruling, Centro Genesis tried to appeal the decision in the Barcelona Provincial Court, but it has desisted from and waived the appeal before the Court itself, and the decision, for all purposes, is now firm, according to Takeda.