Record reopened after ruling of obviousness
Senju Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., et al. v. Apotex Inc. and Apotex Corp., Civ. No.07-779-SLR, November 3, 2010.
Robinson, J. Plaintiff’s motion for a new trial or reconsideration of judgment is dismissed without prejudice to renew and the record is opened for further evidence of a basic principle of science.
In this ANDA case the disputed technology relates to aqueous liquid pharmaceutical compositions comprising gatifloxacin and disodium edetate as well as methods for using those compositions. After a bench trial held from January 12 – 14, 2010, the court issued an opinion on June 14, 2010 finding claim 7 of the patent-in-suit invalid as obvious. Plaintiff moved for relief on the basis that defendant’s expert, Dr. Paul Myrdal, relied on arbitrary solubility curves prepared for trial which were not properly vetted though discovery despite the court’s caution against citing such evidence as foundational in an invalidity theory. The court will not grant a new trial based solely on defendants’ failure of proof with respect to a basic principle of science (that solubility and precipitation bear, to some extent, an inverse relationship to each other) due to errors made by both parties. Instead, the court opens the record to allow further evidence on the relationship between precipitation and solubility.
