- Acumen Powered by Robins Kaplan LLP®
- Affirmative Recovery
- American Indian Law and Policy
- Antitrust and Trade Regulation
- Appellate Advocacy and Guidance
- Business Litigation
- Civil Rights and Police Misconduct
- Class Action Litigation
- Commercial/Project Finance and Real Estate
- Corporate Governance and Special Situations
- Corporate Restructuring and Bankruptcy
- Domestic and International Arbitration
- Entertainment and Media Litigation
- Health Care Litigation
- Insurance and Catastrophic Loss
- Intellectual Property and Technology Litigation
- Mass Tort Attorneys
- Medical Malpractice Attorneys
- Personal Injury Attorneys
- Telecommunications Litigation and Arbitration
- Wealth Planning, Administration, and Fiduciary Disputes
Acumen Powered by Robins Kaplan LLP®
Ediscovery, Applied Science and Economics, and Litigation Support Solutions
-
November 1, 2024Robins Kaplan Recognized for “Tipping the Scales” by Diversity & Flexibility Alliance
-
October 28, 2024Philip Sieff Honored with Minnesota Icon Award
-
October 24, 2024Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, Robins Kaplan Bring Class Action Suit Against Mobile Home Park
-
November 7, 2024Building Your Legal Brand in a Digital World
-
November 7, 2024Financial Literacy for Associates
-
November 7, 2024Structuring IP Finance Deals That Work
-
September 2024Meet Our New Partner and Trial Advocacy Seminar Keynote Speaker: B. Todd Jones
-
September 18, 2024Astellas Pharma, Inc. v. Sandoz Inc.
-
September 2024Q&A with Alan Harter, Founder of Pactolus Private Wealth Management
-
September 16, 2022Uber Company Systems Compromised by Widespread Cyber Hack
-
September 15, 2022US Averts Rail Workers Strike With Last-Minute Tentative Deal
-
September 14, 2022Hotter-Than-Expected August Inflation Prompts Massive Wall Street Selloff
Find additional firm contact information for press inquiries.
Find resources to help navigate legal and business complexities.
Exeltis USA, Inc. v. Lupin Ltd.
Slynd® (drospirenone)
September 4, 2024
Case Name: Exeltis USA, Inc. v. Lupin Ltd., Civ. No. 22-434-RGA, 2024 WL 4040470 (D. Del. Sept. 4, 2024) (Andrews, J.)
Drug Product and Patent(s)-in-Suit: Slynd® (drospirenone); U.S. Patent Nos. 11,123,299 (“the ’299 patent”), 11,291,632 (“the ’632 patent”), 11,351,122 (“the ’122 patent”), 11,412,249 (“the ’249 patent”), and 11,478,487 (“the ’487 patent”)
Nature of the Case and Issue(s) Presented: Slynd is indicated to prevent pregnancy. Prior to trial the parties narrowed the issues to infringement of the patents-in-suit, obviousness, written description, and indefiniteness.
Why Plaintiffs Prevailed: Indefiniteness. Lupin argued that two claim limitations were indefinite. The first recited that no more than 50% of the drospirenone present in the pharmaceutical composition needed to dissolve within thirty minutes when subjected to an in vitro dissolution test in accordance with the USP XXIII Paddle Method. While the file history disclosed multiple ways to use the Paddle Method, the court concluded that a POSA would know which approach to select when practicing the patents-in-suit. In particular, Example 2 and Example 5 of the patents-in-suit described dissolution tests performed according to the recited Paddle Method. Further, during prosecution, Exeltis submitted an inventor declaration outlining the same Paddle Method.
Lupin next argued that certain claims were indefinite because they did not require a specific method for measuring particle size, and, according to Lupin, different methods lead to different results that may or may not be within the scope of the claims. The court found that there were different methods for measuring particle size, but it rejected Lupin’s argument because it found that when properly performed, each method lead to the same particle size measurement.
Infringement. Lupin argued that it did not meet the dissolution and particle limitations of the patents-in-suit. With regard to the dissolution limitation, Lupin argued that a POSA would not have tested its product with the parameters used by Plaintiffs. The court disagreed for the same reasons explained in its indefiniteness analysis, and concluded that a POSA would have used the method outlined in the Examples of the patents-in-suit. For the particle limitations, Lupin argued that Plaintiffs’ expert never showed he was only measuring drospirenone, rather than drospirenone co-located with Eudagit. Plaintiff’s expert, though, stated that he did not include any drospirenone with Eudagit, and Lupin’s expert did not test Lupin’s drug product. For these reasons, Lupin was found to infringe the particle limitation.
Adequate written description. Lupin argued that the claims were directed to a broad, functionally claimed genus: any 4 mg formulation that meets the claimed dissolution and PK limitations. In particular, Lupin argued that the specification did not show that the inventors had possession of the full scope of the genus. But the court agreed with Exeltis’s argument that the specification did not need to identify representative species or common structural features of the claimed formulations because they were well known in the art. By way of example, the court concluded that the specification did not need to describe Eudragit, which Lupin’s ANDA product used, because Eudragit was well known in the art.
Obviousness. Lupin argued that the combination of prior-art references Huempel and Davila rendered the patents-in-suit obvious. In response, Exeltis argued that Huempel did not teach the claimed Tmax range of 2.2 to 6 hours. Next, Exeltis provided that the prior art did not teach a 24/4 dosing schedule for a progestin-only pill (“POP”). The court agreed, finding that the prior art did not teach a drospirenone POP with a non-continuous dosing schedule, nor did it teach a drospirenone POP with the claimed PK parameters. The Court concluded that while a POSA would have been motivated to: (i) make drospirenone formulations in the claimed dosage ranges; and (ii) use the claimed particle sizes to achieve the claimed PK and dissolution profiles, it would not have been motivated to make slow-release drospirenone POPs, to make a product with the claimed PK profile, or to use 24/4 dosing.
As to secondary indicia of non-obviousness, the court concluded that Slynd had a superior bleeding profile by comparison to the prior art. Further, the court adopted Exeltis’s argument that many patients, especially ones with cardiovascular risk factors, did not have a suitable option for oral contraceptives as of the effective filing date of the patents-in-suit. As a result, the court found a long-felt, but unmet need. As to praise, the court found that several journal articles discussed the “valuable addition” that Slynd made to the oral contraceptive market. Finally, the court concluded that Exeltis has shown significant evidence of commercial success based on a combination of market share and sales.
Related Publications
Related News
If you are interested in having us represent you, you should call us so we can determine whether the matter is one for which we are willing or able to accept professional responsibility. We will not make this determination by e-mail communication. The telephone numbers and addresses for our offices are listed on this page. We reserve the right to decline any representation. We may be required to decline representation if it would create a conflict of interest with our other clients.
By accepting these terms, you are confirming that you have read and understood this important notice.