You won't have to hide your bong

Novo Nordisk failed to convince a federal judge to take Pfizer's bong-shaped insulin inhaler, Exubera off the market. Novo claims Exubera infringes on Novo's patents for insulin inhalation. Novo's product isn't even slated for launch until 2011, which implies a gap of 5 years for inhalable products. If I were an Exubera user I'd be pretty mad at Novo for trying this stunt.And Novo still has a chance to prove its infringement case and collect whatever damages it's owed. From the Wall Street Journal:

The judge, in deciding not to grant the injunction, said that "money damages will be readily available" if Novo Nordisk were to prevail at trial. "The amount of Exubera users will be easy to track and any decline in Novo's sales due to alleged infringement will be readily ascertainable," Judge Sand said.

Sounds right to me.