NEW YORK — A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling which found that a generic drug company infringed on one patent for Pfizer Inc.’s Lipitor but reversed the decision on another patent, which may bring cheaper versions of the cholesterol-lowering agent to the market a year earlier than expected.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that Indian generic company Ranbaxy Laboratories Lt. did not infringe on a patent that would have extended Lipitor’s patent life through June 2011. However, the appeals court upheld the decision on another patent which protects Lipitor through March 2010.

Lipitor is the world’s best selling drug, amassing more than $12 billion in annual revenues.

In a statement, Pfizer said it was disappointed with the ruling on the patent which would have kept generic competition at bay until June 2011. However, it noted that the appeals court decision was based on a technical defect in the patent, and that will it will attempt to correct that through a process available at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Ford considering selling Jaguar, news reports say

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co., which disappointed Wall Street with a $123 million second-quarter loss, is starting a review of poorly performing units, including Jaguar, with an eye toward possible sale of some operations, according to a published report.

Ford also is considering forming an alliance with other automakers, a move that General Motors Corp. is considering, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. It based the report on unidentified people close to the situation.

Ford has been losing market share to Asian manufacturers for a decade and has been badly stung by high gas prices because big trucks and sport utility vehicles account for a majority of the vehicles it sells. For the first time last month, it sold fewer vehicles than Toyota Motor Corp. in the U.S.

U.S. Treasury doubling long-bond auctioins

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department, which brought back the 30-year bond earlier this year to help handle a soaring federal debt burden, announced Wednesday that it will double the number of auctions for the popular security next year.

Treasury officials said they will auction the 30-year bond on a quarterly basis in 2007, with the first auction scheduled for February.

Treasury also announced it would sell $10 billion of the 30-year bonds next week on Aug. 10. That auction follows the initial auction last February when $14 billion of the 30-year bonds were sold.

The 30-year bond was discontinued in 2001, when the government was running large budget surpluses and did not need to borrow as much as it had in previous years of high deficits.

The deficit hit a record $413 billion in 2004 before declining last year to $319 billion. The administration forecasts that the deficit will decline to $296 billion this year.

The new deficit estimate represented a marked improvement from the administration’s earlier forecast in February that the deficit this year would climb to an all-time high in dollar terms of $423 billion.

— From news wires