Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Johnson & Johnson won a ruling in Canada's highest court that a patent on its antibiotic Levaquin was infringed when a unit of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. began selling a generic version of the drug.

The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa today refused to hear Teva subsidiary Novopharm's appeal of a federal court ruling that upheld the validity of the patent to June 2009.

Levaquin, containing the ingredient levofloxacin, is used to treat lung, sinus, skin and urinary-tract infections. Levaquin and Floxin, a similar antibiotic, accounted for $1.16 billion in U.S. sales last year, but only $59 million outside the country, Johnson & Johnson has said.

Levofloxacin is ``not the greatest invention, not `eureka,' but of sufficient `inventive ingenuity' to merit valid patent protection,'' Judge Roger Hughes said in a 2006 ruling. His decision was upheld by the federal appeals court.

Novo-levofloxacin, Novopharm's generic version of Levaquin, has been sold in Canada since 2004 and accounts for 2 percent of the company's revenue, court documents show. Officials with Novopharm didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ruling is a victory for Johnson & Johnson's Janssen- Ortho unit and Japan's Daiichi Pharmaceutical Co., the patent holder. Janssen-Ortho sells Levaquin in Canada under a license from Daiichi. Johnson & Johnson doesn't provide a breakdown of Canadian sales figures.

The trial judge in the 2006 ruling gave Novopharm 30 days to sell its inventory of Novo-levofloxacin. The order was stayed pending the appeal. Hughes had ordered a separate trial to deal with the issue of damages.

Johnson & Johnson fell 16 cents to $68.05 as of 1 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Teva, Israel's largest company by market value, rose 1.7 shekels to 174.2 in Tel Aviv.

The case is Novopharm Ltd. v Janssen-Ortho Inc., 32200, Supreme Court of Canada (Ottawa).

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Schneider in Ottawa at jschneider5@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 6, 2007 13:18 EST