May 29, 2009
Teva prevails in appeal decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a high-profile patent litigation.
The firm’s Intellectual Property Department recently prevailed on behalf of Teva Pharmaceuticals in an appeal decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a high-profile patent litigation. The appeal followed an evidentiary hearing in the Northern District of Illinois and that court's denial of a motion for preliminary injunction filed by Abbott Laboratories. The motion sought to prevent Teva from launching a generic version of Abbott's Omnicef antibiotic, whose sales exceeded $500 million annually.
The Federal Circuit affirmed that Abbott is not likely to succeed on its infringement claim, and paves the way for continued sales by Teva. In an en banc section of the decision, the court also clarified a long-disputed legal issue related to infringement of a category of patent claims called product-by-process claims. The en banc court agreed with Teva that such claims should be narrowly construed by the courts.
The litigation team included partner Thomas Meloro and associates Michael Johnson, Chandra Garry and David Lee.