Last fall, Allergan (AGN) transferred rights for six patents to a best-selling eye drug to a Native American tribe, focusing unprecedented attention on a type of patent challenge that vexes brand-name drug makers. Called inter partes reviews, these are heard before a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office appeals board, not a court, and are generally easier and faster to pursue than more conventional patent lawsuits.
Not surprisingly, there are more of these challenges being filed than ever before.
About the Author Reprints
It’s infuriating to have the Globe list an article and then find out you have to pay a third party to read it. Soon, can I expect to see Henry walking the streets of Boston wearing a signboard hawking diet pills and car insurance?