Patent infringement: HC directs firm to pay Rs 2 cr damages to Pfizer

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed a firm to pay Rs 2 crore as damages to pharma giant Pfizer Inc for committing "wilful" and "contumacious" contempt of court by disobeying its order.

The court said if the director of the firm, Triveni Interchem Pvt Ltd, fails to pay the amount in two weeks, he shall be taken into custody and detained in a civil prison for two weeks at Tihar jail here.

The court, in an interim order, had restrained the firm from making, selling, distributing, advertising, exporting or importing or dealing with any product having compound 'Palbociclib' or any pharmaceutically acceptable salt as it would infringe the patent of plaintiff Pfizer.

As the firm was found continuing to sell Palbociclib, the court held the defendants guilty of wilful disobedience of its order and committing contempt of court.

"In these circumstances, as the defendants were completely unwilling to acknowledge the fact that it was selling Palbociclib, the court was constrained to hold the defendants guilty of wilful and contumacious disobedience of its orders and, therefore, found the defendants guilty of having committed contempt of this court..," Justice C Hari Shankar said in an order passed on January 24.