The Federal Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s holding that patent term extension (PTE) for a reissued patent was properly based on the issue date of the original patent and not that of the reissued patent. The...more
Bridion® (sugammadex) - Case Name: Merck Sharp & Dohme B.V. v. Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc., No. 2023-2254, 2025 WL 795317 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 13, 2025) (Circuit Judges Dyk, Mayer, and Reyna presiding; Opinion by Dyk, C.J.) (Appeal...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) recently considered a novel question regarding calculation of the regulatory review period for patent term extension (PTE) under 35 USC § 156 for reissued patents....more
The Federal Circuit held in Merck Sharp & Dohme B.V. v. Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc., 23-2254 that a reissued patent receives patent term extension (PTE) based on the issue date of the original patent, not the reissue patent,...more
In the mid-2000s, the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) determined that reexaminations would be more consistent and legally correct if performed by a centralized set of experienced and specially trained Examiners. As a result, the...more
Merck Sharp & Dohm B.V. v. Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc. et al (Fed. Cir. March 13, 2025) - The Hatch-Waxman Act seeks to strike a balance in the pharmaceutical industry by incentivizing drugs makers to develop innovative...more
Addressing the calculation of patent term extensions (PTEs) under the Hatch-Waxman Act, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court decision that under the act the issue date of the original...more
The Patent Term Extension (PTE) provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 156 compensate pharmaceutical patent owners for time they are not able to enjoy commercial market exclusivity because their products are not yet approved by the U.S....more
The Federal Circuit heard oral argument in Auribundo's appeal of the district court's decision in favor of plaintiff Merck, in a case captioned In re Sugammadex (alternatively, Aurobindo v. Merck Sharp and Dohme). The issue...more
For branded drugmakers, the development of a pharmaceutical product approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) all but assures generic competition. As discussed during the first installment of our Hatch-Waxman series,...more
Patent term extension (PTE) under 35 U.S.C. § 156 is a statutory program that restores to a patent at least a portion of the term that was effectively lost while the covered product was undergoing regulatory review and could...more
Patent Term Extensions (e.g., in the United States), Supplementary Protection Certificates (e.g., in Europe), and other similar extensions compensate the owner of a patent covering certain approved medical products for the...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its opinion in Allergan USA, Inc. v. MSN Laboratories Private Ltd., No. 24-1061 (Fed. Cir. 2024), holding that “a first-filed, first-issued, later-expiring claim cannot...more
Takeaways: 1. ODP in reexamination and reissue remains unpredictable despite Allergan 2. Patent Owners should carefully review ODP rejections to ensure they are proper Obviousness-type double patenting (ODP) is a legal...more
On January 19, 2024, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an order denying the Petition for Rehearing En Banc in the much awaited In re Cellect matter. The mandate of the court issued today....more
On January 18, 2024, the USPTO rejected a "contingent" terminal disclaimer filed by Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Acadia) for a patent it owns that is being challenged in a pending litigation as invalid for obviousness-type...more
The Federal Circuit appeal in Merck Sharp & Dohme B.V., Merck Sharp & Dohme, LLC v. Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc. et al., concerns whether patent term extension (PTE) for regulatory delay, in particular delay for FDA drug...more
Case Name: In re Sugammadex, No. 20-CV-2576 (CCC/LDW), 2023 WL 3966146 (D.N.J. June 13, 2023) (Cecchi, J.) Drug Product and Patent(s)-in-Suit: Bridion® (sugammadex sodium); U.S. Patent No. RE44,733 (“the ’733 patent”)....more
Gain a comprehensive understanding of Hatch-Waxman and BPCIA essentials, a critical competency for legal and business professionals in the biopharmaceutical arena. Attend ACI’s Hatch-Waxman and BPCIA Proficiency Series...more
Last week, the Federal Circuit held that obviousness-type double patenting trumps patent term adjustment, opening the door for invalidity attacks that to date had been questionable. In re Cellect was an appeal from a...more
The USPTO will be hosting a “public listening session” on January 19, 2023, focusing on USPTO-FDA collaboration initiatives proposed pursuant to President Biden's Executive Order on “Promoting Competition in the American...more
The Federal Circuit soon will have the opportunity to decide a question left open during a recent spate of opinions involving the judicially created doctrine of obviousness-type double patenting (OTDP): the effect patent...more
USPTO Launches Webpage on PTE Applications and Patent Terms Extended under 35 U.S.C. § 156 - In a Patent Alert email distributed to stakeholders last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced the launch of a...more
Allele v. Pfizer – The Basics. On April 23, 2021 Pfizer, Inc., BioNTechSE, and BioNTech US, Inc. (“Pfizer and BioNTech”) filed a joint reply supporting of their previously filed motion to dismiss a patent infringement...more
Patent term adjustment (PTA), patent term extension (PTE), and patent linkage were made available in China as of June 1, 2021. While there are certain rules to be finalized and settled, it is advisable that patentees and drug...more