House subcommittee to hold hearing on sovereign immunity, leaves Allergan out

A House judiciary subcommittee will hold a hearing next week about the use of sovereign immunity to shield patents from inter partes review, as Allergan plc (NYSE:AGN) has attempted. The subcommittee did not invite Allergan to testify, according to Mark Marmur, the company’s spokesperson.

In September, Allergan transferred six patents covering the dry eye drug Restasis cyclosporine to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe. The tribe in turn filed a motion requesting that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) dismiss petitions from three generic drug companies that are trying to use IPRs to invalidate the patents (see BioCentury, Sept. 22)...