Citing "unclean hands," a U.S. district judge barred Merck & Co. Inc., of Kenilworth, N.J., Monday from asserting two patents against Foster City, Calif.-based Gilead Sciences Inc., overturning a $200 million award a jury had granted Merck earlier this year. Although Gilead's sales of hepatitis C drugs Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) and Harvoni (ledipasvir and sofosbuvir) infringed Merck's patents, Judge Beth Labson Freeman determined that "Merck's persistent misconduct involving repeated fabricated testimony and improper business conduct" outweighed its right to sue Gilead for infringement.