Patent Baristas

Executive summary This bench trial addresses patent validity and enforceability issues different from those considered in the jury trial. Lilly contends that the asserted claims of US 6,410,516 are invalid for including non-statutory subject matter, for being obtained through inequitable conduct, and are unenforceable due to prosecution laches. Lilly argues, and of course Ariad disputes, […]

Abbott Labs won a ruling preventing Andrx Pharmaceuticals from selling generic versions of the antibiotic Biaxin XL until a patent suit is resolved. Abbott Laboratories v. Andrx Pharmaceuticals et al. (06-1101) The suit involves three cases related to Abbott’s patents related to its extended release clarithromycin product, Biaxin XL® — against Teva, Ranbaxy, and Andrx […]

The Supreme Court added a little sizzle to the life of patent licenses with its decision in Medimmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc., et al. (S.Ct. No. 05–608). The ruling could give licensees a chance to get out of bad license deals by challenging the validity of the underlying patents. The case asked whether companies can […]

A court has upheld a verdict that Abbott Laboratories infringed Innogenetics’ U.S. Patent No. 5,846,704, which claims a method of genotyping the Hepatitis C Virus (“HCV”) by specifically hybridizing probes to a particular region of the HCV genome known as the 5 prime untranslated region (5′ UTR). The speed and relative inexpensiveness of the method […]

When I did my Master’s thesis, I studied endocrine physiology in rats. Lots and lots of rats. Hence, I spent many a day preserving and fixing tissue samples and sitting at a microtome cutting slices of tissue for mounting on slides for staining. So, I felt a real affection for the recent patent case of […]

Eli Lilly & Co. had its patent on Zyprexa®, the world’s top- selling schizophrenia drug, upheld by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The court affirmed a lower court decision that the patent is valid stating that for a chemical compound, a prima facie case of obviousness requires “structural similarity between claimed and […]

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has denied a motion for a preliminary injunction that would have blocked further sales of its inhalable insulin medication, Exubera, in the U.S. based on public interest. Danish drug company Novo Nordisk A/S filed a claim for patent infringement against Pfizer, alleging that Pfizer’s […]

Apotex’s appeal of a grant of a preliminary injunction by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in favor of Sanofi-Synthelabo was smacked down by the CAFC. See Sanofi-Synthelabo et al. v. Apotex (06-1613). Sanofi markets Plavix®, a platelet aggregation inhibiting agent used to reduce thrombotic events such as heart […]