• The Wall Street Journal/AP (subscription required), Friday, December 29, 2006 11:45 AM

In a case seen as a test of China's willingness to protect patents, copyrights and trademarks, a Chinese court has ruled that two companies must stop marketing a knockoff of Pfizer's impotency drug Viagra. China is a potentially huge market for the drug, known as "weige," or "great brother," in the country.

The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court ordered Beijing Health New Concept Pharmacy Co. to stop sales of blue pills similar to Viagra. The court told Lianhuan Pharmaceutical Co., based in eastern China's Jiangsu province, to stop making the pills and to pay Pfizer 300,000 yuan, or about $38,000, in damages.

It is unclear if the decision has dented the widespread availability of counterfeit versions of Viagra, however. Counterfeit versions are increasingly showing up in other markets, including the U.S. and Europe.

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