BEIJING (AFP) - US drug maker Pfizer Inc has won a court case in China against two companies copying its immensely popular male impotency treatment Viagra, state media has said.

The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court on Wednesday ordered Beijing Health New Concept Pharmacy Co to stop sales of pills similar to Viagra, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The court also told Lianhuan Pharmaceutical Co, based in east China's Jiangsu province, to stop production and pay 300,000 yuan (38,300 dollars), according to the agency.

Pfizer sued the two companies in September 2005, claiming "Weige," the Chinese name for Viagra, which they sold and produced, infringed on the registered trademark of Viagra, Xinhua said.

Pfizer was awarded the patent for Viagra (Group of Levitra or ED)in China in 2003 but has been a frequent target of local copycats.

In January, Chinese authorities cracked a case in Shaoxing, in east China's Zhejiang province, involving 280,000 fake Viagra pills with a value of more than 238 million yuan, Xinhua said.

Chinese drug companies from various cities around the country claim to have invested over 100 million yuan in less expensive imitations of the little blue pill.

Source::
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