In recent months patent litigation abuse by so-called “patent trolls” has gotten the attention of lawmakers, state attorneys general and even President Obama, who called for patent litigation reform during his State of the Union address. And, while the primary targets of such litigation abuse so far have been technology companies, a recent study cited in Law360 warns that in the absence of patent reform legislation, patent trolls will soon set their sights on bio-pharmaceutical companies. [Read more...]
Cash-Payment Rule Needed For Pay-For-Delay Litigation Frenzy
February 13, 2014 By Leave a Comment
The fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision last Summer in FTC v. Actavis remains unabated as a host of purported classes of direct and indirect drug payers continue to file suits against branded and generic manufacturers for settling their Hatch-Waxman disputes in deals involving delayed market entry of cheaper, generic drugs. While some of the settlements involved a genuine cash “reverse payment” from the branded to the generic manufacturer, as was the case in Actavis, settlements lacking any cash payment are also under attack. However, a recent dismissal of a pay-for-delay federal suit in New Jersey on the basis that no cash reverse payment was involved will likely cause the Third Circuit and perhaps eventually the Supreme Court to decide whether Actavis’s antitrust “rule of reason” approach can and should be applied to non-cash reverse payment settlements. [Read more...]
Supreme Court Rejects Design Defect End-Around Of Pliva v Mensing Ruling
June 26, 2013 By Leave a Comment
In the last week of the its 2012-13 term, the Supreme Court spurned the First Circuit’s attempt to circumvent the Court’s 2011 decision in PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing, which immunized generic manufacturers from liability based on state “failure to warn” claims on federal preemption grounds. In Mutual Pharmaceutical Co., Inc., v. Bartlett, the Court re-affirmed Mensing and ruled that design defect claims were also preempted, leaving consumers injured by generic drug products with no legal recourse . . . except for a possible “misbranding” claim against generic manufacturers or even a possible direct claim against the original pioneer manufacturer in some state courts. [Read more...]
U.K. Jumps on “Pay-to-Delay” Bandwagon
April 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The U.K. Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”) jumped on the “pay-to-delay” bandwagon last week when it issued a “Statement of Objections,” indicating a potential future adverse decision against GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”) and several generic rivals under the U.K. Competition Act of 1998 in connection with previous patent litigation settlements. As part of the settlements, GSK made “reverse payments” to the generic companies, which agreed to a delayed entry of generic paroxetine (also known as Seroxat and Paxil) into the U.K. market. The U.K.’s actions only increases the stakes for branded and generic drug manufacturers awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision (expected in June) on the legality of reverse payment patent litigation settlements under the U.S. antitrust laws. [Read more...]
