Patent Infringement and Remedies Under Nigerian Law

In 2007, a Federal High Court in Lagos found that two Nigerian companies, Tyonex Nigeria Limited and Ebamic Pharmacy Limited, had infringed Pfizer's registered Nigerian patent by importing and selling a pharmaceutical product called "Amlovas," which contained Amlodipine Besylate, the active compound that Pfizer had patented in Nigeria for its cardiovascular drug Norvasc. The court granted an injunction and awarded damages in Pfizer's favour. It took five years from the filing of the suit to the judgment. In a separate matter, a patent infringement dispute between Dr. C.J.A. Uwemedimo and Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited began in the early 2000s and...