By Donald Zuhn --
On Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an Order in Eli Lilly & Co. v. Actavis Elizabeth LLC, continuing a temporary injunction that had been granted by the District Court for the District of New Jersey one week earlier. Lilly moved for the injunction, which prohibits generic versions of its ADHD drug Strattera® from entering the market, after the District Court found Lilly's patent on the drug (U.S. Patent No. 5,658,590) invalid for lack of enablement (see "Biotech/Pharma Docket," August 19, 2010). Although Lilly sought to enjoin the Defendants for "the period of time it takes for the Federal Circuit to decide Lilly’s appeal of this Court's decision," the District Court granted the company a 14-day injunction, giving it enough time to secure an injunction from the Federal Circuit (see "Biotech/Pharma Docket," August 26, 2010).
After filing a notice of appeal, Lilly moved quickly for an injunction to prevent the launch of generic versions of Strattera®, as well as to expedite the briefing and assignment of the case to the calendar. In addition to continuing the District Court's temporary injunction, pending the Federal Circuit's consideration of Lilly's motion and Defendants-Appelllees' response, the CAFC gave Defendants-Appelllees until noon today (August 30, 2010) to file their (preferably joint) response. The Court also set an expedited briefing schedule in which Lilly's opening brief is due by Thursday, September 9 (within 14 days of the filing of the Order), Defendants-Appelllees' briefs are due by Thursday, September 23 (within 14 days of service of Lilly's opening brief), and Lilly's reply brief and the joint appendix are due by Thursday, September 30 (within 7 days of service of Defendants-Appelllees' briefs).
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