Angry over the high price of a prostate cancer drug, Baltimore officials have filed a lawsuit accusing a Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) unit of using “sham” patent litigation to delay the availability of lower-cost generics, forcing the city to spend millions of dollars unnecessarily.
The lawsuit alleges that Janssen Biotech and its partner, British Technology Group, undertook a “ruse” when seeking a patent for its Zytiga medicine by failing to disclose certain information to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. And the move made it possible for the drug maker to deflect generic rivals longer than it might have otherwise.
About the Author Reprints
Kudos to our scribe for a careful reading beyond just the headlines – “both lawsuits use nearly identical language in many sections.”