Temporary Restraining Order Denied
The request of Otsuka Pharmaceutical for a Temporary Restraining Order to protect its Abilify product from generic entry was denied by the U.S. District Court for New Jersey. EI Principal Philip B. Nelson submitted a report for a group of generic pharmaceutical companies. His report critically reviewed Otsuka’s claim that it would be irreparably harmed if generic entry was allowed and it was later determined that the generic entry had infringed a valid patent. The judge’s opinion agreed that Otsuka had not established that it would be irreparably harmed by generic entry. Dr. Nelson was assisted by EI Principal Robert D. Stoner and Vice President Henry B. McFarland. The generic pharmaceutical companies were represented by Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP, Choate Hall & Stewart LLP, Cozen O’Connor, Latham & Watkins LLP, Rakoczy Molino Mazzochi Siwik LLP, and Wiley Rein LLP.
Copyright Industries Report
The International Intellectual Property Alliance recently released “Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy: The 2014 Report.” The report was written by EI Principal Stephen E. Siwek. In 2013, core copyright industries, those whose primary purpose is to create, produce, distribute or exhibit copyright materials, accounted for $1.1 trillion, almost 7%, of U.S. Gross Domestic Product. They employed 5.5 million workers, about 4% of the U.S. workforce. From 2009 to 2013, those industries grew by over 2% a year, a rate 70% faster than the growth rate of rest of the U.S. economy. The report can be found at www.iipa.com/copyright_us_economy.html.
Reynolds American and Lorillard Merge
EI Corporate Vice President and Principal Matthew B. Wright, along with EI economists Michael G. Baumann, Kevin W. Caves, Allison I. Holt, John M. Gale, and Andrew P. Card, helped secure recent FTC approval of the $27.4 billion merger between Reynolds American and Lorillard. A majority of the Commission concluded that the complex transaction, which also included some divestitures to Imperial Tobacco Group, would not lessen competition for combustible cigarettes in the United States. EI economists worked with attorneys from Jones Day on the antitrust defense of this acquisition.