시부트라민 관련된 의약품 특허분쟁에 대한 고찰

Consideration of Patent Dispute over Sibutramine Related Drugs

Pharmaceutical patents as a part of intellectual property rights have been considered to be important issues in the pharmaceutical industry. This article deals with a patent law dispute between Hanmi pharmaceutical and Abbott company for sibutramine related drugs; a dispute as to whether a modified sibutramine salt developed by Hanmi pharmaceutical may infringe the use realm of Abbott s patent for the original sibutramine salt of Reductil. The main point of the law dispute was the difference of structure and properties between sibutramine hydrochloride monohydrate of Abbott and sibutramine methylsulfonate hemihydrate of Hanmi company. The court of Korea had to deal with the substantial identity of invention about two compounds between Abbott and Hanmi company. The Patent Court uphold Hanmi pharmaceutical company because of the non-identity of sibutramine methylsulfonate hemihydrate of Hanmi company, based on several evidences showing differences in physicochemical properties unlike the specification of Abbott s use patent. Finally, in November 2006, the Patent Court sentenced this patent dispute with a victory for Hanmi pharmaceutical company. The final judgement of the Patent Court shows legal essential guidelines for the approval of the development of new modified drugs in domestic pharmaceutical companies. Also, it is expected that the law case of this patent dispute will be useful for the direction of research and development of new drugs.