The Federal Trade Commission has been scrutinizing patents listed by drugmakers on a key federal database, warning several companies that their listings are improper and drive up drug prices. Here's a look at what the agency and others could do next.
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SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2024 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

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Analysis

What To Watch As The FTC Targets Drug Patent Listings

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Trade Commission has been scrutinizing patents listed by drugmakers on a key federal database, warning several companies that their listings are improper and drive up drug prices. Here's a look at what the agency and others could do next.

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Warren Pushes To Clinch 'Popular' Drug Patent 'March-In' Plan

By Lauren Berg

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, Thursday urged the U.S. Department of Commerce to finalize a proposal that would allow the government to take possession of "taxpayer-funded" patents on drugs and lease them to generic-drug makers, saying the "popular framework will help reduce exorbitant drug costs."

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'South Park'-Quoting Judge Says CEO Can't 'Blame Canada'

By P.J. D'Annunzio

In a ruling drawing on the show about four foul-mouthed boys from Colorado, a Pennsylvania federal judge said a CEO who sued his former company could not blame Canada for an unfavorable arbitration ruling in a case where he claimed he was wrongly fired from his post.

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LITIGATION

Ozempic Maker Says Texas Pharmacy Selling Knockoff Drug

By Catherine Marfin

The manufacturer behind the Ozempic weight loss drug has asked a federal court to prohibit a Houston-area pharmacy from selling compounded, non-FDA-approved medications that claim to contain the drug's key ingredient.

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Pa. Court Blocks State's Recall Over Cannabis Vape Additives

By Matthew Santoni

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has permanently blocked the state Department of Health from enforcing a 2022 recall of medical cannabis products containing certain additives, on the grounds that the department's reversal on the additives' approval was a "de facto regulation" that was enacted without the proper procedures.

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3M Nixes Teva Inhaler Patent On Appeal At EPO

By Hanna Vioque

3M Innovative Properties Co. has convinced European officials to ax a patent owned by Israeli generic-drug maker Teva for an inhaler that relieves pulmonary disease symptoms, arguing that other scientists would have eventually figured out its special formula.

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ENFORCEMENT & COMPLIANCE

Exec Found Liable For 'Shadow Trading' Seeks New Trial

By Sarah Jarvis

A former executive of biopharmaceutical company Medivation Inc. whom a jury found liable for using inside information from his company when he purchased stock in a rival pharmaceutical maker has moved for a new trial in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's novel "shadow trading" case.

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BANKRUPTCY

Rite Aid Ch. 11 Timeline Extended To Allow More Plan Review

By Hilary Russ

A New Jersey judge on Thursday lengthened the timeline for Rite Aid to seek an exit from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, pushing the confirmation hearing date out by seven days after insurers and others said the company's schedule would not provide enough time to review its restructuring plan.

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PEOPLE

Ex-Sidley Atty To Lead Faegre's West Coast Class Action Team

By James Mills

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP is boosting its litigation team, announcing Wednesday it is bringing in a Sidley Austin LLP class action ace as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: May Lessons

In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from automobile insurance to securities — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including circuit-specific ascertainability requirements and how to conduct a Daubert analysis prior to class certification.

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Perspectives

Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Orrick Leads List Of Top Law Firms For Women, Diversity

By Aebra Coe

Talent strategies firm Seramount released its latest list of the 45 best law firms for women and diversity this week, with the 2024 cohort of winners showing strides over previous years in representation, advancement and benefits for lawyers who are women or from other underrepresented groups.

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Houston Judge's Vast Display Reflects 25 Years On Bench

By Catherine Marfin

Along the hallways leading to U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison's Houston courtroom hang hundreds of notes, photos, thank-you cards and other correspondence, serving as a kind of interactive scrapbook of Judge Ellison's 25 years on the bench.

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Analysis

In Rarity, 1 Party's Judges Gain 100% Control Of Circuit Bench

By Jeff Overley

At the First Circuit, the judges' robes are all black, but the judges are all blue. It's a new and unusual instance of one political party's judicial picks controlling each active seat on a federal appeals court, and the Democratic dominance could prove magnetic for ideologically charged litigation.

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Orrick's $8M Deal To End Data Breach Claims Nears Prelim OK

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge indicated Friday that she'll preliminarily approve Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP's $8 million deal to end putative class claims over a 2023 data breach that purportedly exposed personal information for 638,000 individuals, but said the "very broad" scope of the settlement's release "raised my eyebrows."

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Smith Gambrell Faces Slimmed Data Breach Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A California federal judge has trimmed the claims a proposed class of data breach victims brought against international law firm Smith Gambrell & Russell LLP, leaving the firm to face claims of negligence, invasion of privacy and violation of the California Unfair Competition Law.

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Analysis

Blockbuster Summer: 10 Big Issues Justices Still Must Decide

By Katie Buehler

As the calendar flips over to June, the U.S. Supreme Court still has heaps of cases to decide on issues ranging from trademark registration rules to judicial deference and presidential immunity. Here, Law360 looks at 10 of the most important topics the court has yet to decide.

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Analysis

Del. Chancellor Questions 'Rush' To Amend Corporation Law

By Jeff Montgomery

Weeks before the Delaware State Bar Association sent state lawmakers a draft bill explicitly allowing corporations to broadly cede some governance rights to chosen stockholders, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of Delaware Chancery Court made an unprecedented, direct appeal to think twice.

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Trump Condemns NY Trial As Verdict Echoes In DC

By Rachel Scharf

A day after his conviction on 34 felony counts, former president Donald Trump on Friday attacked the Manhattan jury's verdict in a lengthy speech that mischaracterized multiple elements of the case as the decision reverberated through Washington, D.C.

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Trump's New York Prosecutors Called To House Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the House Judiciary Committee and its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, demanded on Friday that Manhattan prosecutors appear for a hearing on June 13 on the prosecution of former President Donald Trump, who was convicted on Thursday of 34 felonies.

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Disbarring Giuliani Would 'Protect The Public,' DC Panel Says

By Alison Knezevich

A Washington, D.C., attorney ethics panel agreed Friday that Rudy Giuliani's role in former President Donald Trump's attempt to overturn Pennsylvania's presidential election in 2020 amounted to misconduct "of the utmost seriousness," and that disbarring him would "protect the public, the courts, and the integrity of the legal profession."

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Texas Judge Opts Not To Recuse And Tosses Chamber Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A Texas federal judge has thrown out the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's suit seeking to block the Federal Trade Commission from implementing a ban on noncompete clauses because a different plaintiff was first to file, adding he declined to recuse himself because no companies in his stock portfolio were parties in the case.

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Illinois Strengthens Atty Ethics Rules For Harassment, Bias

By Celeste Bott

The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that the state's professional conduct rules for attorneys have been amended to deem the act of engaging in harassment or discrimination as professional misconduct, and not just in the event a court or administrative agency finds that a lawyer violated a law prohibiting such actions.

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DOJ Looks To End A Legacy Of Bias In Sex Assault Cases

By Hannah Albarazi

The U.S. Department of Justice says that legal fallacies and misogynistic stereotypes often lead prosecutors to decline to charge alleged perpetrators of sexual violence, but new guidance from the department is pushing prosecutors to give more credence to victims and see that their claims are more thoroughly investigated.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Brewer Attorneys & Counselors, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and attorneys Eugene Volokh and Alan Morrison lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the National Rifle Association can proceed with certain claims in the gun rights group's lawsuit against a former New York state official.

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The Top In-House Hires Of May

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the last full month of spring included high-profile appointments at Southwest, Hormel and UnitedHealth. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from May.

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Off The Bench: NCAA Transfers Freed, Atty Plays Cards Right

By David Steele

In this week's Off the Bench, the NCAA agrees to more historic rule changes while experts examine its post-House settlement future, and a patent lawyer looks back at his transformation into a poker champion.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

3M Co.

Acelyrin Inc.

Amazon.com Inc.

American Airlines Group Inc.

American Bar Association

American Civil Liberties Union

American Constitution Society

Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

Apple Inc.

BHE Renewables LLC

Bank of America Corp.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy GT&S

Boehringer Ingelheim

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc.

Broadway Financial Corp.

Business Roundtable

CVS Health Corp.

Conagra Brands Inc.

ConocoPhillips Co.

Costco Wholesale Corp.

Delaware State Bar Association

DiamondRock Hospitality Company

Essex Property Trust Inc.

FedEx Corp.

First Bank (Hamilton, NJ)

Geico Corp.

Gilead Sciences Inc.

Harvard University

Hertz Global Holdings Inc.

Hormel Foods Corp.

Hospira Inc.

Hulu LLC

Illinois State Bar Association

Incyte Corp.

International Business Machines Corp.

Jersey Mike's Subs

Johnson & Johnson

Lumen Technologies Inc.

Marathon Oil Corp.

Mars Inc.

Moelis & Co.

NBCUniversal Media LLC

NFL Enterprises LLC

National Collegiate Athletic Association

National Rifle Association of America

New York University

Novo Nordisk A S

Occidental Petroleum Corp.

People For the American Way

Pfizer Inc.

Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America

Rhode Island Legal Services Inc.

Rite Aid Corp.

Ryan LLC

Sanofi

Southwest Airlines Co.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

The Boeing Co.

The District of Columbia Bar

The PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

The Procter & Gamble Co.

Trump Organization Inc.

Twitter Inc.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

UCLA School of Law

UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Villanova University

Wells Fargo & Co.

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.

Xcel Energy Inc.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

ASK LLP

Aidala Bertuna

Alston & Bird

Arnold & Porter

Baker Donelson

Baker McKenzie

Blank Rome

Boies Schiller

Bowman & Brooke

Brewer Attorneys

Chaffe McCall

Chapman & Cutler

Choate Hall

Clark Hill

Clifford Chance

Cole & Van Note

Cole Schotz

Corr Cronin

Covington & Burling

Cozen O'Connor

Crowell & Moring

DLA Piper

Davis & Wright

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Dickinson Wright

Donahue Fitzgerald

Dorsey & Whitney

Faegre Drinker

Federman & Sherwood

FeganScott

Finkelstein Blankinship

Foley & Lardner

FordHarrison

Fox Rothschild

Frankfurt Kurnit

Gibson Dunn

Gupta Wessler

Hangley Aronchick

Hanson Bridgett

Hawke McKeon

Holland & Knight

Holwell Shuster

Husch Blackwell

Jones Day

Kaplan Hecker

Katz Banks

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Kopelowitz Ostrow

Latham & Watkins

Lathrop GPM

Locke Lord

Lowenstein Sandler

McCarter & English

Morgan Lewis

Morrison Foerster

Neal Gerber

O'Melveny & Myers

Orrick Herrington

Orsinger Nelson

Paul Weiss

Perkins Coie

Potter Minton

Quinn Emanuel

Richards Layton

Ropes & Gray

Sheppard Mullin

Shook Hardy

Sidley Austin

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Skadden Arps

Smith Gambrell

Spertus Landes

Stamoulis & Weinblatt

Stinson LLP

Stokes Lawrence

Sullivan & Cromwell

Troutman Pepper

Tucker Ellis

Tycko & Zavareei

Vedder Price

Wachtell Lipton

Wiley Rein

Williams & Connolly

WilmerHale

Wilson Elser

Winston & Strawn

Wolf Haldenstein

Wucetich & Korovilas

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

City of New York

Commonwealth of Kentucky

Congressional Research Service

Delaware Court of Chancery

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

Illinois Supreme Court

Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians

Manhattan District Attorney's Office

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

National Labor Relations Board

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Pennsylvania Supreme Court

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Government Accountability Office

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia