By Megan Stride

Law360, New York (January 25, 2011, 5:59 PM ET) -- Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. has beaten back two of Watson Laboratories Inc.'s affirmative defenses in its consolidated patent infringement suit seeking to block Watson and Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc. from making a generic version of its Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo contraceptive.

Judge Stanley R. Chesler handed Ortho partial summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey on Tuesday, shutting down Watson's allegations that Ortho's U.S. Patent Number 6,214,815 was invalid because it failed to meet the statutory utility and enablement requirements.

The judge also...