Taiho Sues US Patent Office Over Cancer Drug Extension Denial

Taiho Pharmaceutical Co. challenged the US Patent and Trademark Office’s denial of a patent extension for its cancer drug LYTGOBI, arguing the agency miscalculated filing deadlines in a case that could cost the company $1 billion.

In a lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, the Otsuka Holding Co. subsidiary claims the PTO wrongly started a 60-day filing window from a defective FDA approval letter. The agency sent a corrected letter the next week, and that letter is when the window opened to apply to extend protection of the drug, it said.

The extension ...