A federal judge has ruled that AbbVie must turn over documents in a lawsuit that accuses the drugmaker of using "unclean hands" to create a thicket of patents to protect its best-selling drug Humira from competition, according to STAT.
The documents AbbVie wanted to keep secret involve internal communications that discuss its strategy for bolstering Humira sales and fending off competition from lower-cost alternatives.
The court battle in question is between AbbVie and Boehringer Ingelheim. Boehringer is defending itself against a patent infringement lawsuit, and in its argument accuses AbbVie of using "unclean hands" to create a patent thicket to thwart competition.
By relying on inappropriate behavior, AbbVie unfairly prevented competitors from marketing biosimilar versions sooner, according to the lawsuit.
This is the first time the "unclean hands" defense has been applied to the creation of patent thickets, webs of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must navigate to commercialize new technology. As a result, the case is being tracked closely by the pharmaceutical and generic drug industry.
Although a previous judge ruled in June that AbbVie had to produce documents for Boehringer, including incentives used to increase patent coverage, strategies to mitigate competition and underlying strategies, AbbVie refused to provide much of what was requested. AbbVie argued there was no tie between an alleged patenting program and the marketing and sales of Humira.
However, in a Feb. 8 ruling the federal court judge disagreed and wrote "AbbVie's argument is unconvincing," according to STAT.
Read the full report here.