Eli Lilly Discovery Block Upheld In Novartis Patent Spat

Eli Lilly and Co. can’t pump rival Novartis Pharma AG for information in the US to use in ongoing European patent litigation because Novartis has insufficient local ties, the Fourth Circuit affirmed in a published decision Thursday,

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a January ruling from an Eastern District of Virginia judge, who denied Eli Lilly’s discovery request on the basis that “it is clear that Novartis—a Swiss company with no physical presence in the United States or the Eastern District of Virginia—is not ‘found’ in this District.”

The case stems from conflicts between the ...