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ARTICLE | Company News

Allergan, generics contest sovereign immunity

October 24, 2017 9:36 PM UTC

Allergan plc (NYSE:AGN) and generic drug companies challenging patents covering dry-eye drug Restasis cyclosporine have exchanged legal briefs about the pharma’s attempt to use tribal sovereign immunity to shield the patents from inter partes review.

The briefs were filed at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). They are not related to a recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas that four Restasis patents are invalid. Allergan has stated that it plans to appeal the ruling. The inter partes review (IPR) petitions involve six patents, so the case is likely to proceed even if the district court’s ruling is upheld. ...