PTAB to consider sanctions against Bass

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has accepted a request from Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ:CELG) to consider sanctions against the Coalition for Affordable Drugs, an entity controlled by hedge fund manager Kyle Bass. Celgene filed a motion seeking sanctions as part of its response to an inter partes review (IPR) petition the Coalition filed that attempts to invalidate some of Celgene's patents on Thalomid thalidomide.

In a document filed with the PTAB, Celgene accused the Coalition of using the IPR process to affect the value of public companies. "This is not the purpose for which the IPR process was designed," the company wrote. Celgene also alleged that before the IPRs were filed, someone associated with the Coalition "threatened to file IPRs against the challenged patents unless Celgene met their demands." Celgene wrote that when it did not pay, the IPRs were filed. ...