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Tag Archives: Watson

Federal Circuit Finds Yaz Patent Obvious

Posted by Courtenay Brinckerhoff on Posted in 103; Federal Circuit Decisions

In Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the Federal Circuit reversed the district court and held that Bayer’s patent covering its Yaz® birth control pill product is invalid as obvious. The court found a strong prima facie case of obviousness, and rejected each of Bayer’s arguments relating to secondary indicia of non-obviousness.

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Federal Circuit Upholds Fentora Patents, But Affirms Non-Infringement

Posted by Courtenay Brinckerhoff on Posted in Enablement; Federal Circuit Decisions

In Cephalon, Inc. v. Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the Federal Circuit reversed the district court’s finding that two Orange Book-listed patents for Cephalon’s FENTORA® product were invalid, but affirmed the district court’s finding that Watson’s ANDA product would not infringe the patents. The Federal Circuit decision reviews the “undue experimentation” standard for lack of enablement, and underscores the importance of aligning evidence of infringement with the governing claim construction.Continue reading this entry

Supreme Court To Hear AndroGel Reverse Payment Case

Posted by Courtenay Brinckerhoff on Posted in Supreme Court Decisions

The Supreme Court granted certiorari in Federal Trade Commission v. Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., to address whether and when “reverse payment” agreements made to settle ANDA litigation violate antitrust laws. The Supreme Court may decide whether such reverse payments should be evaluated under the “scope of the patent” test (which upholds most agreements) or the “quick look rule of reason” test (which is more likely to find an antitrust violation).  Oral arguments are scheduled for March 25, 2013. Continue reading this entry

Non-Legal Perspectives On Isolated DNA: The Watson And Holman Amicus Briefs In The Myriad Remand

Posted by Courtenay Brinckerhoff on Posted in 101; Myriad

The most interesting briefs in the Federal Circuit remand of Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. (the ACLU “gene patenting”/BRCA1 case) may be those submitted by James D. Watson and Christopher M. Holman, which each present non-legal perspectives on the issues before the court.Continue reading this entry

Federal Circuit Clears Way For Generic Yasmin

Posted by Courtenay Brinckerhoff on Posted in Federal Circuit Decisions

In Bayer Schering Pharma AG v. Lupin, Ltd., the Federal Circuit upheld the district court’s determination that the Abbreviated New Drug Applications at issue did not infringe the asserted patent related to Yasmin. In particular, the Federal Circuit agreed that the FDA had not approved Yasmin for the method of use claimed in the patent, and so filing the ANDAs could not amount to infringement of the patent.

While this case is similar to Caraco Pharmaceutical Labs., Ltd. v. Novo Nordisk A/S, in that it relates to a method of use patent in the ANDA framework, it raises different issues than those decided by the Supreme Court a day after this Federal Circuit decision was issued. (Please see this article for a discussion of Caraco.)

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