December 21, 2022
The U.S. Department of Justice suffered a string of stinging setbacks in criminal antitrust cases this year but also extracted guilty pleas in emerging areas of enforcement, while private antitrust parties saw key rulings on patent and class issues.
August 01, 2022
A Seventh Circuit panel on Monday refused to revive landmark private antitrust claims from Humira buyers accusing pharmaceutical giant AbbVie of using a "patent thicket" to illegally shield the blockbuster immunosuppressant from competition, ruling that there's nothing wrong with AbbVie's high volume of patents.
February 25, 2021
Do Humira buyers need to prove every single patent in the "thicket" surrounding AbbVie's blockbuster immunosuppressant was invalid to show the drug giant is illegally shielding the biologic from competition? A Seventh Circuit judge seemed to think so Thursday on a divided panel weighing whether to revive the lawsuit.
February 23, 2021
The Seventh Circuit could dramatically affect the intellectual property landscape for biologic drugs after hearing oral arguments on Thursday from Humira buyers accusing AbbVie of wrongly employing a "patent thicket" to insulate its blockbuster immunosuppressant from competition.
February 02, 2021
Humira buyers continued to press the Seventh Circuit on Monday to revive their suit accusing AbbVie of employing a "patent thicket" and other tactics to insulate its blockbuster immunosuppressant from competition, assailing the drugmaker for making the "untenable" claim that its efforts to stall competition are immune from antitrust claims.
January 04, 2021
The U.S. Department of Justice has thrown its weight behind AbbVie at the Seventh Circuit as Humira buyers look to revive their suit accusing the drugmaker of employing a "patent thicket" and other tactics to insulate its blockbuster immunosuppressant from competition.
December 23, 2020
AbbVie and other pharmaceutical companies are urging the Seventh Circuit to uphold their antitrust win in Humira buyers' suit over the drug's alleged "patent thicket," arguing that the buyers are challenging "run-of-the-mill" patent enforcement conduct the U.S. Supreme Court has already blessed.
October 14, 2020
The Federal Trade Commission and a group of state attorneys general are urging the Seventh Circuit to address mistakes they say a district court made in tossing a lawsuit claiming AbbVie built an anti-competitive "patent thicket" around its blockbuster immunosuppressant Humira to keep cheaper biosimilars from the market.
October 13, 2020
Consumer advocates, academics and a drug store industry group all have urged the Seventh Circuit to revive a lawsuit claiming AbbVie built an anti-competitive "patent thicket" around its blockbuster immunosuppressant Humira to keep cheaper biosimilars from coming to the market.
October 06, 2020
Humira buyers have urged the Seventh Circuit to revive their suit claiming AbbVie built an anti-competitive "patent thicket" around its blockbuster immunosuppressant drug Humira to keep cheaper biosimilars from coming to the market, arguing that the drugmaker's multiprong scheme worked.