Purdue v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, INC. (Oxycodone)

Carlson Caspers won a series of significant victories for Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., involving patents related to Purdue’s multi-billion dollar OxyContin® pain medication. First, Carlson Caspers secured favorable judgments on each of the asserted patents in a bench trial before US District Judge Sidney Stein of the Southern District of New York. Of the five patents in dispute, Judge Sidney Stein agreed with Teva’s “clear and convincing evidence” that four of Purdue’s patents lacked “novelty” and/or were “obvious.” The judge further ruled that Teva had not infringed the fifth patent and that the patent was invalid for indefiniteness. Purdue appealed four of these judgments to the Federal Circuit, and Carlson Caspers successfully defeated these appellate challenges, paving the way for Teva’s marketing of a generic OxyContin® product. Carlson Caspers also represented Teva in a second bench trial involving two additional tamper resistance patents listed in the Orange Book for OxyContin®. Shortly before the parties began a third trial, and before the Court issued a verdict on the second trial, Teva secured a favorable settlement.