Mylan: PTAB Denies Tribe's Motion To Terminate Patent Challenge On Restasis

(RTTNews) - Mylan N.V. (MYL) announced the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board has denied the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe's (Tribe) motion to terminate Mylan's patent challenge regarding six patents related to Allergan's Restasis. The PTAB held that the Tribe did not establish that the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity applied to inter partes review proceedings. The PTAB tentatively scheduled an oral hearing on the merits for April 3, 2018, and stated that it would render a final written decision on the patentability of the challenged patents by June 6, 2018.

Mylan noted that, in a move admittedly designed to protect the Restasis patents from cancellation by the PTAB, Allergan announced in September that it had assigned the rights of six patents to the Tribe. The Tribe immediately moved to dismiss the proceedings, arguing that its tribal sovereign immunity prevented the PTAB from reviewing the patents. On Feb. 23, the PTAB denied the Tribe's motion on multiple grounds.