IP law update
- Federal Court rules in favour of Pfizer to amend patent
- US appeals court rules in favour of GSK
- US court rules against Repligen protein patent
Federal Court rules in favour of Pfizer to amend patent
September 19 – The Federal Court has ruled in favour of Pfizer Research and Development Company in a case concerning the claims of the patent under which Pfizer markets Viagra, a treatment for male erectile dysfunction. Eli Lilly and Bayer Aktiengesellschaft each brought proceedings seeking revocation of the patent. Heerey J, however, refused to revoke the patent, instead amending two of the patent's claims as proposed by Pfizer. The amendments delete a wider claim while retaining a narrower claim. It is interesting to note that while the normal practice is that the applicant for an amendment pays the respondent's costs, the judge in this case did not make such an order. Heerey J stated that there must remain a general discretion in relation to cost orders.
[Source: Austlii]
US appeals court rules in favour of GSK
September 23 – A US federal appeals court has asked a lower court to reconsider a ruling that Andrx's proposed generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's antidepressant Wellbutrin SR did not infringe GSK's patent. The decision represents a victory for GSK's antidepressant franchise. GSK and Biovail received FDA approval for a once-daily version of Wellbutrin, called Wellbutrin XL, in late August.
[Source: Reuters]
US court rules against Repligen protein patent
September 17 – A US District Court has ruled that there is insufficient evidence to prove that certain patents were invented by the University of Michigan. The patents are licensed to Massachusetts biotech Repligen and cover a protein, called CTLA4, involved in the body's immune system. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Repligen against Bristol-Myers Sqibb for correction of certain patents issued to Bristol for the protein. Repligen has recently received a notice of allowance from the US Patent and Trademark Office on a separate patent claiming the use of CTLG4-lg for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosis.
[Source: Reuters]
