In the latest row over monopolies on medicines, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana filed a lawsuit accusing a Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) subsidiary of filing “sham” patent litigation in a bid to unfairly thwart generic competition to its best-selling Zytiga prostate cancer treatment.
Having won an initial patent in 2004, Janssen Biotech three years later began pursuing additional claims with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, but was repeatedly rejected. By 2014, though, the subsidiary won an extension for one patent and was granted another, extending its monopoly on the drug until December 2016, according to the lawsuit filed last week in Alexandria, Va.
About the Author Reprints
