Patent Baristas

The Antitrust Review blog reported that the Solicitor General’s Office submitted a brief to the Supreme Court urging the Court to deny certiorari in the reverse payment case Joblove v. Barr Labs (S.Ct. No. 06-830). Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked for the government’s views on the antitrust effects of settlement agreements between holders of […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit smacked down Pfizer’s bid to get the court to reconsider a March 22 ruling that the patent on its hypertension drug Norvasc was invalid. See Pfizer v. Apotex (06-1261). The earlier ruling allowed Mylan Labs to make a generic version of Norvasc. Mylan entered the market […]

On the same day that the Supreme Court seemed to rely on common sense in its approach in the KSR decision, it handed down its holding in Microsoft Corp. v. AT&T Corp, No. 05.1056, 550 US ___ (April 30, 2007) which defies common sense. The lesson learned from this decision is to either file for […]

It is clear that the Supreme Court’s ruling in KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc. (Opinion 04-1350; Decided April 30, 2007) was meant to make it easier to challenge a patent on the grounds that the idea was obvious or showed no real innovation. The question is, does this mean bad news for pharmaceutical and […]

In 2001, AstraZeneca filed suit in the US against against several pharmaceutical companies that were seeking permission from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market generic versions of Prilosec, Astra’s gastric acid inhibiting drug, for infringement of a patent directed to a process for making an omeprazole formulation. Andrx filed counterclaims of non-infringement, invalidity […]

In Merck & Co. v. Hi-Tech Pharmacal (06-1401) , the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit looked at the question of whether a patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act, 35 U.S.C. § 156, may be applied to a patent subject to a terminal disclaimer under 35 U.S.C. § 253, filed to overcome an […]

After Teva Pharmaceuticals appealed the dismissal of its declaratory judgment action in District Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has taken a fresh new look at things in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc., 127 S. Ct. 764 (2007). Because the district court relied […]

The CAFC finally shot down Pfizer’s Norvasc® patent after it filed suit against Apotex alleging infringement stemming from Apotex’s filing an Abbreviated New Drug Application (“ANDA”) seeking approval to commercially sell amlodipine besylate tablets before the expiration of the term of U.S. Patent No. 4,879,303. Pfizer, Inc. v. Apotex, Inc. (f/k/a Torpharm) (2006-1261; Decided March […]