(1.) 24. 04. 2009 this appeal by the Plaintiffs F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (`roche) and osi Pharmaceuticals Inc. (`osi) is directed against the judgment dated 19th march, 2008 passed by the learned Single Judge of this Court dismissing I. A. No. 642/2008 filed by them in their suit CS (OS) No. 89/2008, thereby declining their prayer for grant of an interim injunction to restrain the defendant/respondent Cipla Limited from manufacturing, offering for sale, selling and exporting the drug Erlotinib, for which the plaintiff No. 2 claimed to hold a patent jointly with Pfizer Products Inc. The impugned judgment nevertheless put the defendant to terms including furnishing an undertaking to pay damages to the plaintiffs in the event of the suit being decreed, to maintain accounts of the sale of its product Erlocip, file in the court quarterly accounts along with the affidavit of one of its directors, and to file in the court annual statement of the sales of Erlocip duly authenticated by its chartered accountants on the basis of its records, including the sales tax and excise returns.
(2.) FOR convenience, the appellants are referred to as the plaintiffs and the respondent as the defendant. Case of the Plaintiffs
(3.) IN the plaint in the suit CS (OS) No. 89 of 2008 it is stated that plaintiff no. 2 OSI jointly owns a patent with Pfizer Products Inc. in respect of a small drug molecule medically termed as a "human Epidermal Growth Factor Type-1/epidermal Growth Factor Receptor" (HER/egfr) inhibitor, popularly known as Erlotinib. It is claimed that the said drug marked a major breakthrough and innovation in the treatment of cancer. According to the plaintiffs the various tests conducted on Erlotinib have shown a marked increase in the survival benefit in the patients suffering from advanced or metastatic non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC ). The metastatic NSCLC is most prevalent form of this cancer.