Court Says Allergan Can't Shield Restasis Patents With Tribe
- Drugmaker paid Mohawks to protect patents with tribal immunity
- Court says tribal immunity can’t be asserted in patent reviews
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Allergan Plc and the St. Regis Mohawk Indian Tribe can’t use tribal sovereign immunity to shield patents on the dry-eye drug Restasis from challenges at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, an appeals court ruled Friday.
Allergan had agreed to pay the tribe $15 million a year to take ownership of the patents and then sought to dismiss challenges filed by Mylan NV, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and and Akorn Inc. The tribe’s argument that it’s a sovereign government doesn’t apply before the patent review board, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a decision posted on its electronic docket.