District of Delaware Rules in Favor of Finnegan Clients AstraZeneca and Shionogi Pharmaceuticals, Finding that Patent Covering Crestor® is Valid and Enforceable

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 1, 2010

District of Delaware Rules in Favor of Finnegan Clients AstraZeneca and Shionogi Pharmaceuticals, Finding that Patent Covering Crestor® is Valid and Enforceable

WASHINGTON, DC - The United States District Court for the District of Delaware ruled in favor of firm clients AstraZeneca and Shionogi Pharmaceuticals, finding that the FDA Orange Book listed patent for the active ingredient in their blockbuster anti-cholesterol drug, Crestor®, is valid and enforceable—preserving market exclusivity for Crestor® into 2016.  The patent was challenged in these Abbreviated New Drug Application litigations by eight generic pharmaceutical companies.  Judge Farnan ruled that the novel rosuvastatin inventions claimed in the patent would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.  Judge Farnan further found that the failure to submit certain prior art during the prosecution of the patent application was not the result of an intent to deceive the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  Instead, Judge Farnan credited AstraZeneca and Shionogi’s witnesses and evidence that innocent mistakes resulted in the non-submission of the prior art and ruled that the patent is enforceable.

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With more than 375 intellectual property lawyers, Finnegan is one of the largest IP law firms in the world. From offices in Washington, DC; Atlanta, Georgia; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Palo Alto, California; Reston, Virginia; Brussels, Belgium; Shanghai, China; Taipei, Taiwan; and Tokyo, Japan, the firm practices all aspects of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret law, including counseling, prosecution, licensing, and litigation. Finnegan also represents clients on IP issues related to international trade, portfolio management, the Internet, e-commerce, government contracts, antitrust, and unfair competition. For additional information on the firm, please visit www.finnegan.com. 

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