Court rules patent claims are not obvious after ANDA trial
In Re: Alfuzosin Hydrochloride Patent Litigation, MDL Docket No. 08-md-1941-GMS, May 14, 2010.
Sleet, C. J. After trial the court finds in favor of the patentee that: (1) the '491 patent is not invalid; and (2) an award for attorneys' fees and costs is not warranted in this case.
After a four-day trial the court finds that the '491 patent is not invalid as obvious in light of the prior art. There are significant differences between the prior art and the claimed inventions such that a person of ordinary skill in the art would not have been motivated to combine the cited references. In addition, there are a number of secondary considerations that severely undermine the defendant's claims of obviousness. Finally, attorneys' fees and costs are not warranted in this case where both sides vigorously, and in apparent good faith defended their respective positions.
