A temporary injunction against the sale of iPhones and iPads have been lifted on the ground that Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.’s continued insistence on the ban could run afoul of antitrust law. In December 2011, Motorola successful convinced a German court to enjoin Apple’s sales of the products on the ground that they infringed a […]
Category Archives: Patent Litigation
Court Lifts Motorola’s Infringement Injunction Against Apple’s iPad and iPhone Sales in Germany
March 2, 2012 – 3:41 pm
DOJ Antitrust Concerns Alter Novell Patent Deal
July 20, 2011 – 2:30 pm
In response to DOJ, Antitrust Division, concerns, a Microsoft-led joint venture has agreed to change its deal to purchase over 800 patents from Novell as part of its sale to Attachmate. Under the revised sale agreement, Microsoft and EMC will not be allowed to hold certain patents, and all of the patents will be covered […]
Generics vs. Prilosec Lawsuit Dismissed by SDNY
July 20, 2011 – 2:29 pm
Southern District of New York Judge P. Kevin Castel dismissed a class action complaint against the sellers of Prilosec for failure to allege a plausible relevant product market. American Sales Co. Inc.’s proposed class action alleges AstraZeneca AB and The Procter & Gamble Co. initiated sham patent suits in order to perpetuate an unlawful monopoly […]
Pay-for-Delay Generic Drug Deals Decline in Europe While Numbers Rise in US
July 20, 2011 – 2:25 pm
In the EU, the number of so-called pay-for-delay settlements between brand-name drugmakers and generics companies has dropped to 3 percent of the industry’s patent settlements last year, as opposed to 10 percent in 2009. The Commission is concerned that such deals designed to delay the release of a generic drug in return for a payment […]
Motions to Dismiss Denied in Prosthetics Gel Liner Patent Case
July 7, 2011 – 5:25 pm
Southern District of Ohio Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr., denied motions to dismiss a complaint against prosthetics maker The Ohio Willow Wood Co. Inc. and inventor Bruce Kania, rejecting the defendants’ argument that the suit failed to state a claim under Section 1 of the Sherman Act because it alleges harm caused by patent enforcement. […]
Organic Farmers Seek to Invalidate Monsanto’s Genetically-Modified Seed Patents
July 7, 2011 – 5:23 pm
The Public Patent Foundation has filed suit in federal court in the Southern District of New York seeking to invalidate, on antitrust and other grounds, more than twenty Monsanto Company patents involving genetically- modified seed. The suit was filed on behalf of numerous organic farmers, seed businesses, and agricultural groups that do not want to use genetically […]
Class Certified in Case Alleging that It Delayed Generic Entrant
June 3, 2011 – 9:04 am
Update November 2010: The court has certified a class of direct purchasers. Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Anita B. Brody rejected Glaxo-SmithKline’s (GSK) motion to dismiss a case alleging that it anticompetitively delayed the entry of generic Flonase into the market by filing citizens petitions before the FDA. GSK argued that its conduct was protected […]
Asparagus Seed Patent Challenge Needs to Allege Knowing Fraud to Support Antitrust Claims
June 1, 2011 – 10:23 am
District of New Jersey Judge Freda L. Wolfson dismissed antitrust claims filed by Jersey Asparagus Farms Inc. against Rutgers University concerning patents for asparagus seeds. The plaintiff alleged that the patents were invalid on the ground that Rutgers failed to disclose prior art to the PTO. Recognizing that fraudulently obtaining a patent may violate the antitrust […]
Monoplization Case Against Pfizer to Go Forward
June 1, 2011 – 9:31 am
Judge Faith Hochberg, District of New Jersey, denied Pfizer’s motion to dismiss claims alleging that it unlawfully sought to monopolize the market for gabapentin products. Pharmacies purchasing the drugs argued that Pfizer violated the antitrust laws by, inter alia, manipulating the patent approval process and filing sham law suits. The court rejected Pfizer’s defenses that […]
FTC Reports 60% Increase in Pay-for-Delay Generic Drug Deals
June 1, 2011 – 7:53 am
Since the courts began permitting branded drug companies to pay generic companies not to enter the market with a generic version of a popular drug, the number of pay-for-delay settlements has increased. That process accelerated in 2010 with the number increasing to 31 deals up from 19 the previous year. The FTC has argued that […]