Supreme Court Passes on Eli Lilly Patent Infringement Win

Eli Lilly & Co.‘s patent infringement victory against Hospira Inc. and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. will stand after the U.S. Supreme Court declined review.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held in August 2019 that Hospira’s and DRL’s New Drug Applications infringed Lilly’s patent on its cancer drug Alimta under the doctrine of equivalents. The doctrine imposes liability for equivalents to patented technology that don’t literally infringe a patent’s claims.

Hospira and DLR argued that Lilly’s doctrine-of-equivalents claims were barred by prosecution history estoppel because Lilly based its infringement allegations on patent claims that it lost ...