Washington, Nov 22: A Federal appeals court on Friday rejected GlaxoSmithKline Plc's bid to salvage patent protection for its antibiotic Augmentin, once its second-biggest selling product. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said a lower court had been correct when it decided early last year that the company's patents were invalid.

"Because the district court correctly found that these patents are invalid, this court affirms," the appeals court wrote in its decision.
Invalidation of the Augmentin patent has already paved the way for cheaper copycat versions of the drug that have dented sales for Glaxo, the world's No. 2 drug maker.
Glaxo said the court ruled in favor of generic drug makers Geneva Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. Bureau Report