Case
Filed: Nov 06, 2012
Case
Closed: Oct 11, 2013
Court:
Delaware District Court
Judge:
Sue L. Robinson
Case
Summary:
Pamlab,
Breckenridge Pharmaceutical, Metabolite Laboratories jointly filed a patent
infringement suit against Acella Pharmaceuticals claiming that their US patent US6528496
was infringed. The cause of the suit was of Acella manufacturing a generic
version of the pharmaceutical product Foltx/Folbic before the expiration of the
‘496 patent covering Foltx/Folbic and its use.
The
patent is entitled ‘Compositions treating, preventing or reducing elevated
metabolic levels’ which was legally issued to Robert H. Allen and Sally P.
Stabler on Mar 04, 2003 and expired[i]
by Dec 29, 2012. Metabolite was the last
assignee[ii]
of the ‘496 patent (source: MaxVal’s Assignment
Database). Pamlab was the exclusive licensee and
Breckenridge the sub-licensee of the ‘496 patent.
Pamlab manufactures and sells the product
with the trademarked name Foltx® and Breckenridge sells under the name
Folbic®. The products contain three
active ingredients, namely vitamin B12, vitamin B6, and folic acid. It is used as a supplement to prevent/treat
vitamin deficiency and also is prescribed to treat certain heart and blood
vessel diseases by reducing the level of homocysteine.
The
complaint alleges that Acella had manufactured a product which it represents as
containing 2 mg of vitamin B12, 25 mg. of vitamin B6, and 2.5 mg. of folic acid, the same active ingredients in the
same amounts as Foltx and Folbic, and which Acella markets under the name of Folastin.
It
says “in offering its Folastin for sale, Acella has represented, explicitly or
implicitly, that it’s Folastin is substitutable for Foltx/Folbic and quoted it
as a “willful infringement”.
With its suit, plaintiffs
sought the court to declare a permanent enjoinment of Acella from
marketing and selling Acella's Folastin along with fees, costs and expenses.
Stipulated
motion for dismissal was filed by Acella and the Court upon consideration granted
the dismissal, thereby closing the case.
See 1:12-cv-01403 for
more details. To get alerts on cases filed/closed, subscribe to our Litigation Alerts.
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[i]
Expected expiration date. Patent Term Estimator
is a free web-based tool that automatically calculates patent terms and
expiration dates for U.S. utility patents.
[ii]
MaxVal offers Patent Assignment Alert service
where subscribers receive email alerts when assignments relating to target
applications, patents or entities of interest are recorded.
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