Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. v. West-Ward Pharmaceutical Corporation et al., C.A. No. 14-1268-SLR, December 14, 2016.

Robinson, J. Plaintiff’s motion to reopen judgment and amend the complaint is granted.

Plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction was denied and the denial was affirmed on appeal. On September 10, 2015, Takeda filed an amended complaint which was dismissed and the case closed. Plaintiff now seeks to amend pursuant to Rules 59(e) and 15(a) asserting that defendant actively encouraged third-party infringement by telling healthcare providers to prescribe Mitigare for unapproved indications covered by plaintiff’s patents, including for the treatment of acute gout flares. The court concludes that the proposed amended complaint is sufficiently plead. The court will consider staged discovery, initially focused on evidentiary support for the induced infringement allegations and follow up discovery.