Third Circuit Limits FTC Ability to Recoup Profits From AbbVie (1)

Federal district courts can’t allow the FTC to reclaim profits from companies that benefited from unfair competition, the Third Circuit ruled in a case over AbbVie’s control of a testosterone gel patent.

The appeals court Wednesday reversed a district court decision ordering AbbVie and Besins Healthcare Inc. to pay $448 million for allegedly filing sham patent lawsuits to stifle competition.

Section 13(b) of the FTC Act doesn’t give courts the power to order disgorgement, which would enable the Federal Trade Commission to claw back money from companies engaged in anticompetitive behavior, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ...