Ethicon Endosurgery Inc. and Intuitive Surgical Inc. have been sparring in the courts over patents for robot surgery systems for some time, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled on yet another of those disputes.
Acquisitions in the diagnostics space incurs some interesting liabilities, given recent case law regarding subject matter eligibility, but this is not the only trap door for the acquiring company. Roche Diagnostics Corp., of Indianapolis, managed to avoid an induced patent infringement charge by Meso Scale Diagnostics LLC in a recent hearing at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in connection with Roche’s 2007 acquisition of Bioveris Corp.
The EU initiated a dispute complaint with the World Trade Organization over China’s intellectual property (IP) enforcement allowing Chinese courts to block infringement litigation worldwide. The Feb. 18 complaint, posted by the WTO last week, takes issue with Chinese courts issuing global injunctions barring patent holders from asserting their rights through legal proceedings in other countries until the case is settled in China.
The EU initiated a dispute complaint with the World Trade Organization over China’s intellectual property (IP) enforcement allowing Chinese courts to block infringement litigation worldwide. The Feb. 18 complaint, posted by the WTO last week, takes issue with Chinese courts issuing global injunctions barring patent holders from asserting their rights through legal proceedings in other countries until the case is settled in China.
Drug companies won another round in their battle with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over how many contract pharmacies must be given the steep discounts dictated under the 340B drug pricing program aimed at helping public clinics and hospitals provide charity care.
Most of the better-known targets of prosecution under the U.S. False Claims Act (FCA) are drug and device manufacturers, but the Department of Justice (DOJ) seems to have opened a new front in the war on Medicare fraud.
Ethicon Endosurgery Inc. has had its hands full protecting a patent for robotic surgical systems, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal recently delivered some good news. The Federal Circuit affirmed the results of an inter partes review (IPR) of three claims for an endocutter patent, leaving Ethicon with another win in its efforts to sustain a critical patent for the robotic surgical space, and major player Intuitive Surgical Inc. coming out on the short end of the argument.
As the U.S. FDA struggles to meet a massive court-ordered release of documents related to its approval of the Pfizer Inc.-Biontech SE COVID-19 vaccine, it could help itself by being more proactive in publicly releasing documents related to the approval and labeling of prescription drugs, according to a U.S. regulatory expert.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reported Feb. 1 that it had recouped more than $5.6 billion in settlements in connection with False Claims Act litigation (FCA) in 2021, with $5 billion of that amount derived from action against the health care industry.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) reported Jan. 26 that it will investigate whether Alvotech Hf and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. misappropriated trade secrets when developing a potential interchangeable biosimilar to Abbvie Inc.’s mega-blockbuster, Humira (adalimumab).