Celgene, Hayman Capital Management cancer news
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected Celgene’s request to dismiss petitions seeking inter partes review of patents on cancer drug Thalomid thalidomide and to sanction the Coalition for Affordable Drugs, an entity controlled by hedge fund manager Kyle Bass. In the ruling, PTAB rejected Celgene’s argument that the Coalition’s IPR petitions constituted an illegal abuse of the IPR system because Bass was attempting to profit from the stock market’s reaction to the petition.
“Profit is at the heart of nearly every patent and nearly every inter partes review,” the decision states. “As such, an economic motive for challenging a patent claim does not itself raise abuse of process issues. We take no position on the merits of short-selling as an investment strategy other than it is legal, and regulated.” PTAB declined to adopt Celgene’s position that only companies that have a “competitive interest” in a patent or a patented technology should be permitted to file an IPR petition. The board ruled that the America Invents Act (AIA), which established the IPR process, does “not limit inter partes reviews to parties having a specific competitive interest in the technology covered by the patents.” ...