A $500 Million Brawl: Lilly, Canada And Invalidated Patents

In the latest twist in the brawl between Eli Lilly and the Canadian government over invalidated patents, the drugmaker has filed for arbitration and is seeking nearly $500 million in damages as part of an effort to force Canada to alter the way patent rights are administered. The case was filed yesterday under the rules of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The drugmaker is pursuing what is known as an investor-state dispute which, under provisions of international trade treaties, allows companies to initiate disputes against foreign governments. In this case, Lilly maintains that court decisions violated Canadian obligations under NAFTA, the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Agreement and the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Lilly, by the way, previously sought $100 million in compensation when it first challenged Canada. As noted last year, Lilly is arguing that Canada failed to uphold international obligations and allowed generic rivals to challenge its patents on two of its drugs without providing sufficient evidence of utility, or usefulness. An example would be clinical data, and Lilly (LLY) accused Canada of expropriation, failing to meet minimum standards of treatment and discriminatory treatment (here is the Lilly claim). “Patent decisions in Canada over the last decade not only fly in the face of long-established international standards, but they’re subjective and completely unpredictable,” says Lilly general patent counsel Doug Norman in a statem...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs