Patent Baristas

Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. agreed to settle patent litigation of the $500 million drug Provigil (modafinil) with Cephalon Inc. Under the agreement Ranbaxy can market its generic version of Provigil from October 2011, three years before the patent protection ends, on payment of royalty. Cephalon and Ranbaxy also agreed to a series of business arrangements related […]

The Blawg Review Awards 2005 are out and the Patent Baristas won the award for Best Blawg Theme with a note that the Baristas “presented a strong showing in the graphic design competition, as well.” While we liked the nod to Overlawyered, which picked up the award for Best Name for a legally-oriented blog, we’re […]

… and good will to all!

Andrx Pharmaceuticals has filed a patent infringement suit against the UK’s GlaxoSmithKline PLC over a version of the antidepressant Wellbutrin XL. Andrx filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleging that GlaxoSmithKline’s 150 milligram dose of extended-release Wellbutrin violates its patent covering a once-a-day form of bupropion hydrochloride, […]

The U.S. House of Representatives approved $3.78 billion prepare for a possible avian flu epidemic, including stockpiling potential vaccines, training emergency officials and increasing international surveillance. At the last minute, an unrelated provision (called the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act) to protect vaccine, drug and medical device makers against lawsuits in a public health […]

AstraZeneca New Zealand announced that it has reached an oral agreement with the New Zealand government drug-buying agency to continue supplying its prostate and breast cancer medicine Zoladex to the New Zealand market, ending a bad public relations nightmare for both the company and the New Zealand government. AstraZeneca earlier made the decision to withdraw […]

A Delaware District Court ruled that Pfizer can exclusively sell Lipitor until 2011 after finding that Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.’s generic version of Lipitor infringes on two Pfizer patents. Ranbaxy failed to prove Pfizer’s patents were invalid or unenforceable so Pfizer’s patents will remain in force until 2010 and 2011. Pfizer owns U.S. Patent Nos. 4,681,893 […]

Columnist Robert Horton ran a story, entitled “Muckraking movie takes on biotech industry” in the Daily Herald about a new documentary film: “The Future of Food.” It’s not the views of the documentary that scared me (documentaries are often slanted to make a point) but it was instead the views of the columnist himself that […]