When the U.S. Supreme Court agreed late last month to hear arguments in Teva Pharmaceuticals USA v. Sandoz Inc., commentators focused on how the case could usher in a new era of deference to trial judges in patent cases. That may be true, but Teva reminded the high court on Monday that its bottom line is at stake in the case as well.
In a 20-page motion, Teva’s lawyers asked the high court to put on ice a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that permitted generic drug companies to sell low-cost versions of Teva’s drug Copaxone as early as May 24, more than a year before Teva says they should be able to. “This court’s intervention is needed before that date, to ensure that its decision on the merits next term will not come effectively too late to prevent irreparable harm to Teva,” wrote the company’s lawyers at Goodwin Procter, Kirkland & Ellis and other firms.
