United States Second Circuit

In an action alleging that defendant drug manufacturers conspired to maintain a monopoly in the market for desmopressin acetate tablets, dismissal of the complaint is reversed where: 1) plaintiffs' antitrust claim could stand on the citizen petition theory without raising questions of patent law; 2) plaintiffs had standing to raise Walker Process claims for patents that were already unenforceable due to inequitable conduct; and 3) plaintiffs sufficiently pled scienter on the part of defendants.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/16/2009
• Published 10/16/2009

Judges

• JOHN M. WALKER, JR., Circuit Judge:, Before:  FEINBERG, WALKER, and LIVINGSTON, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• David F. Sorensen, (Daniel Berger, Daniel C. Simons, on the brief), Berger & Montague, P.C., Philadelphia, PA, Bruce Gerstein, Adam Steinfeld, Garwin Gerstein & Fisher, LLP, New York, NY, Linda P. Nussbaum, Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer, LLP, New York, NY, for Plaintiffs-Appellants., James J. Fredericks, (Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney General, Gerald F. Masoudi, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Robert B. Nicholson, Attorney, on the brief), U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, William Blumental, General Counsel, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC, for Amici Curiae United States and Federal Trade Commission., J. Douglas Richards, Pomerantz Haudek Block Grossman & Gross LLP, New York, NY, for Amici Curiae the American Antitrust Institute, AARP, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, and Families USA., Andrew W. Cuomo, Attorney General of the State of New York, Barbara D. Underwood, Solicitor General, Benjamin N. Gutman, Deputy Solicitor General, Jay L. Himes, Chief, Antitrust Bureau, Robert L. Hubbard, Director of Litigation, Antitrust Bureau, of counsel, New York, NY, for Amici Curiae the States of New York, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico., Margaret M. Zwisler, Charles R. Price, Latham & Watkins LLP, Washington, DC, Diane E. Bieri, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Washington, DC, Thomas DiLenge, Biotechnology Industry Organization, Washington, DC, for Amici Curiae the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the Biotechnology Industry Organization.


• For Appellees:
  
• Douglas L. Wald, (William J. Baer, Barbara H. Wootton, Jon J. Nathan, on the brief), Arnold & Porter LLP, Washington, DC, for Defendants-Appellees Ferring B.V. and Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Julia E. McEvoy, (Donald B. Ayer, John M. Majoras, Donald Earl Childress III, Christopher R. Farrell, on the brief), Jones Day, Washington, DC, for Defendant-Appellee Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.