J&J; sues Watson over drug patent
Times Wire Reports
Johnson & Johnson filed suit against Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., alleging infringement of its Ortho Tri-Cyclen LO birth-control pill.
Corona-based Watson submitted an application with the Food and Drug Administration for a pill that would violate the patent, J&J; said in a lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in Newark, N.J.
The application seeks to rule J&J;’s patent is either invalid, unenforceable or won’t be infringed, J&J; said.
J&J;’s Ortho-McNeil had sued Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. in 2003 to prevent sales of a generic version of the same drug until a patent expired in 2019. The January 2008 trial was postponed as the parties negotiated a settlement.
