In its 26 June 2019 Resolution, the Philippine Supreme Court (SC) finally put to rest the patent infringement case filed by Warner Lambert Co., LLC (Warner Lambert) and Pfizer, Inc. (Philippines) (Pfizer) against our clients United Laboratories, Inc. (Unilab) and Therapharma, Inc. (Therapharma) involving the drug Atorvastatin Calcium. The SC denied the Motion for Reconsideration filed by Warner Lambert and Pfizer and affirmed its earlier Decision dated 11 June 2018 that denied the Petition for Review (Petition) filed by Warner Lambert and Pfizer to question the dismissal of their patent infringement case on a demurrer to evidence.
Our lawyers were able to secure favorable rulings early on in the case when the RTC denied the injunction application filed by Warner Lambert and Pfizer due to the adverse judicial admissions of their own witnesses while under cross examination by our lawyers. The injunction denial was affirmed by the Philippine Court of Appeals (CA) and the SC.
After the presentation of the evidence by Warner Lambert and Pfizer, Unilab and Therapharma moved to dismiss the complaint on a demurrer to evidence. The RTC granted the demurrer to evidence due to the adverse judicial admissions made by their own witnesses during their cross examination in the injunction hearings and their abject failure to present new and relevant evidence during the trial. The CA affirmed the RTC Decision granting the demurrer to evidence and dismissing the complaint.
When the case was elevated to the SC by way of a Petition filed by Warner Lambert and Pfizer, the SC likewise denied said Petition. The SC held that under the Rules of Procedure for Intellectual Property Rights Cases, the demurrer to evidence is not among the list of prohibited pleadings and that the RTC had properly granted the demurrer to evidence. The SC subsequently denied the Motion for Reconsideration filed by Warner Lambert and Pfizer. On 26 June 2019, the Resolution dated 11 June 2018 became final and executory.
Susan D. Villanueva and Rowanie A. Nakan were the lead counsel of this case.