While Alice arguably wreaked havoc for the past decade on patent plaintiffs, its reach into patents asserted by brand pharma companies was much more limited. A patent appeal between Sonos and Google currently pending before the Federal Circuit is likely to test the bounds of the doctrine of prosecution laches. Sonos claims it was robbed of a $32 million jury verdict after the district court found Sonos waited too long to pursue the claims asserted at trial. Amicus briefs have poured in highlighting a veritable policy debate over prosecution laches. Could the doctrine of prosecution laches eventually stifle patent evergreening for pharma patents in a way that Alice never could?
Read MoreSeagen’s patent lawsuit against Daiichi Sankyo is nearing resolution at the district court. In April of this year, Seagen convinced a Texas jury that Daiichi Sankyo’s breast cancer drug, Enhertu®, is infrining Seagen’s U.S. Patent No. 10,808,039. Daiichi Sankyo also failed to convince the jury that the ‘039 patent was invalid. As a result, the federal court in the Eastern District of Texas is scheduled to conduct a bench trial on what appears to be Daiichi Sankyo’s last defense before the Court enters judgment. On June 28, the court will conduct a bench trial (no jury) on the issue of prosecution laches. The trial is scheduled to commence at 1:00 pm and will last only three hours. Can Daiichi Sankyo avoid paying Seagen royalties?
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