Bloomberg Law Litigation Report Examines Drugmaker’s Unprecedented Patent Deal with American Indian Tribe

ARLINGTON, VA (Feb. 8, 2018)—The latest Bloomberg Law quarterly litigation analysis report released today focuses on drugmaker Allergan Plc., which sold its patents for the eye drug Restasis to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe last year in an unprecedented bid to escape a validity challenge by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The report examines the interplay between challenges at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s PTAB tribunals and litigation in the courts under the Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984. It highlights the legal and economic context on the number of PTAB challenges, the drugs most litigated under the Hatch-Waxman Act, the most common venues for such litigation, and industry cash-flows at stake.

“The innovative legal tactic by Allergan spotlights how far pharmaceutical companies are willing to go to block parallel attacks on patents at the patent office, and the PTAB decision will likely dictate whether such a move is ever attempted by patent owners in the future,” said Alex Butler, vice president and general manager of Corporate, IP, and Tech & Telecom for Bloomberg Law. “This report offers patent attorneys and corporate counsel critical insights through in-depth analysis and data on trends and key decisions so they can better navigate the complex patent review process.”

The report is the latest in the series, which explores intellectual property litigation, including trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks and patents. The insights in the report are presented through a combination of expert analysis and data accessed using Bloomberg Law’s full complement of patent litigation resources, including a comprehensive database of dockets and court opinions, Litigation Analytics, which draws on court opinions (both published and unpublished) and docket information to help inform litigation strategies and understand potential impacts of judges and courts, and company and financial information drawn from the Bloomberg terminal.