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BIA intervenes on plausibility in patent law in Supreme Court case

January 26, 2018 9:02 PM UTC

The U.K. Bioindustry Association said the U.K. Supreme Court granted it permission to intervene in the court's review of Warner-Lambert Company LLC v. Generics UK Ltd and Actavis to examine the issue of plausibility in patent law.

The case involves a patent for the use of Lyrica pregabalin from Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), which Warner-Lambert markets for neuropathic pain along with its original indications for general anxiety disorder and epilepsy. After Generics Ltd. and Actavis commenced claims to revoke Warner-Lambert's patent and Warner-Lambert claimed infringement, a 2015 judgment found the patent's claims for use in treating peripheral neuropathic pain were plausible and valid, but claims for central neuropathic pain were invalid as only partially plausible. Subsequently, the Court of Appeals found that Warner-Lambert's application to amend the patent to limit it to peripheral neuropathic pain was an abuse of process, which Warner-Lambert is appealing...