IN RE OMEPRAZOLE PATENT LITIGATION (Fed. Cir. 2008) (nonprecedential)
Omeprazole is the active ingredient in the best-selling drug Prilosec. Mylan and others challenged Astrazeneca’s patents on grounds that their generic formulations do not infringe two Astra’s listed patents. “After a forty-two day bench trial,” a Southern District of New York district court agreed that the generic formulation do not infringe. On appeal was the question of whether the generic versions contained an “alkaline reacting compound” (ARC) as required by the claims.
Using the Specification as Proof of Non-Infringement: Astra argued that the talc used by the generic products included an ARC. The CAFC agreed that the lower court had properly rejected that argument based in part on language in the specification. Specifically, the nearly identical specifications listed several different ARCs but did not include talc on the list. “In contrast, the specifications also lists a number of ordinary excipients, among which is talc. . . Thus, the specifications themselves indicate that ARCs do not include talc.”
Defying conventional wisdom at the time, Mylan launched its generic version of Omeprazole in 2003 — despite ongoing patent litigation.
Non-infringement affirmed.