Pfizer's Lipitor gets temporary lease of life

 The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a finding by a district court judge in December against Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. The court allowed Pfizer to hold its Lipitor patent, till March 2010.

 Ranbaxy earlier attempted to sell a generic version of Lipitor. Pfizer sued Ranbaxy three years ago on grounds of patent infringement. Lipitor's patent expires in March 2010 while another patent expires in June 2011.