Amarin Corp Plc (AMRN)

[relocatedmetsfan]

Case goes to trial...

Defendants seek summary judgment that they do not infringe any of the Asserted Claims. (ECF No. 236.) Defendants’ lead arguments apply to all of the Asserted Claims, though Defendants also make arguments that apply to only a subset of the Asserted Claims—one set of arguments applies to the Other Health Benefits Claims, and the other applies to the Excluding Statins Claims. But while these arguments differ in application, they are very similar in substance. Defendants basically argue as to inducement that their proposed labelling does not encourage prescribing doctors to infringe the Asserted Claims, and argue as to contributory infringement that their proposed generic drugs may be used in substantial, non-infringing ways. (Id.) The Court addresses these arguments as to the Asserted Claims—and subsets of those claims—below, after first describing the applicable legal framework.

It is therefore ordered that Defendants’ motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 236) as to noninfringement is granted in part, and denied in part. It is granted to the extent Plaintiffs assert a contributory infringement theory, but denied to the extent Plaintiffs assert an inducement infringement theory.

It is further ordered that Plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment (ECF No. 234) is granted in part, and denied in part as moot. It is granted to the extent Defendants may not assert a written description defense at trial, but denied as moot as to anticipation, enablement, or indefiniteness because Defendants have withdrawn these defenses and counterclaims.

Basically, the trial will strictly consist of arguing whether or not Hikma would infringe on the patents by inducement, “that their proposed labelling...encourage[s] prescribing doctors to infringe the Asserted Claims”. The court relied heavily on the expert witness testimony for this ruling.

Amarin didn’t even have to argue the merits of the written description theory. This gives them time to prepare for the next generic that will come shooting at this theory. And yes, one will. But that will occur at least a few years into the future.