Indiana Intellectual Property Law News
Indianapolis, Indiana – The matter of Eli Lilly and Company, et al. v. Apotex Inc., et al. has been stayed pending a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
This Indiana lawsuit was initiated by Lilly, an Indianapolis pharmaceutical company, in conjunction with other Plaintiffs. Patent attorneys for Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit asserting patent infringement after Defendants filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application seeking approval to market a generic version of the drug Axiron® before various patents related to the drug expired. Among Plaintiffs’ contentions were claims of patent infringement of seven patents pertaining to Axiron.
In this motion, patent lawyers for Plaintiffs have asked the court to stay its proceedings pending a ruling in a similar case, Eli Lilly and Company, et al. v. Perrigo Company, et al. The Perrigo case was filed in the Southern District of Indiana in 2013. After a trial, the court issued findings including that one claim in one of the Axiron patents was invalid, while two claims pertaining to another Axiron patent were valid. That ruling was appealed to the Federal Circuit; that appeal remains pending.
Indiana Southern District Judge William Lawrence noted the relevant factors to be considered when deciding whether to enter a stay: whether the stay will unduly prejudice or tactically disadvantage the non-moving party; whether the stay will simplify the issues in question and streamline the trial; and whether the stay will reduce the burden of litigation on the parties and on the court.
The court concluded that a stay to await the Federal Circuit’s ruling in Perrigo would streamline the issues to be decided and lessen the burden on both the court and the parties. The court also found that Defendants had failed to show that they would suffer undue prejudice as a result of the stay. Consequently, the court granted Plaintiffs’ motion.
This case is before United States District Court Judge William T. Lawrence and Magistrate Judge Debra McVicker Lynch and assigned Case No. 1:16-cv-1512-WTL-DML.