The Federal Circuit has sided against the Tribe and Allergan. On July 20, the Federal Circuit affirmed the decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that denied the motion by the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe to terminate a series of inter partes review proceedings commenced by Mylan ($MYL) against patents listed in the Orange Book for Allergan’s ($AGN) drug Restasis®. What are the takeaways from this decision?
Read MoreThe PTAB has issued its much-anticipated decision on whether Allergan managed to pull off it’s scheme to avoid IPRs of its Restasis® patents by “selling” the patents to the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. On February 23, 2018, the PTAB denied the Tribe’s motion to terminate the IPRs on the ground based on its tribal sovereign immunity. What were the PTAB’s reasons for denying the Tribe’s motion to terminate the IPRs? And what are the ramifications for similar deals in the future?
Read MoreIn the latest twist in the saga pitting sovereign immunity against inter partes review, the PTAB issued a decision on December 19, 2017 that potentially jams a spoke into the wheels of future partnerships between brand pharma and Tribes. What does this decision bode for Allergan’s Restasis® deal with the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe? What are the consequences of this decision?
Read MoreThe problem with these arguments is that even if they are all true (which is questionable,) they are besides the point. The issue at stake is whether renting sovereign immunity to evade having to defend the validity of your patent is either permissible or should be permissible. Indeed, Judge Bryson admonished Allergan for being “conspicuously silent about the broader consequences of the course it has chosen.” (Allegan v. Teva, Dkt. 522 at 4-5). Mr. Saunders op-ed in The Wall Street Journal is equally silent.
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