Apotex Challenge to Abilify® IP Won't Get High Court Hearing

On Monday, January 14, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari by Apotex Inc. challenging a May 2012 Federal Circuit ruling in favor of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The petition concerned the Federal Circuit’s so-called lead compound test for evaluating the obviousness of drug patents. This test was applied to uphold the validity of Otsuka’s antipsychotic drug Abilify^®. Otsuka was represented by Finnegan in this matter. Finnegan partner James Monroe was pleased the Supreme Court did not take up the Apotex appeal and said, “We're very happy that the court denied the petition.”