On November 21, 2024, Patterson Belknap obtained a significant victory on behalf of our clients, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) subsidiaries Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Janssen Pharmaceutica NV (Janssen), in a Hatch-Waxman patent infringement litigation concerning Teva’s and Mylan’s proposed generic versions of Janssen’s long-acting-injectable antipsychotic drug Invega Sustenna. Invega Sustenna is a blockbuster medicine and is widely praised for its ability to provide both rapid and sustained relief to patients suffering from symptoms of schizophrenia. The recently unsealed decision from the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, upheld the validity of the sole remaining patent covering Invega Sustenna, and confirms the inventiveness of the work that led to Invega Sustenna and enables J&J to continue to reinvest in the research and development of new treatments. The Patterson Belknap team was featured in the American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week” column for their work on the case.

The firm had previously fended off Teva’s challenge to the validity of the Invega Sustenna patent following an eleven-day bench trial in October 2020.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated the district court’s prior nonobviousness finding, remanding for further analysis.  On remand, the district court completely reaffirmed its prior conclusion of nonobviousness.  This is the third time a district court has confirmed the validity of the Invega Sustenna patent; Patterson Belknap successfully defeated a separate validity challenge to this patent in a litigation against Tolmar in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

To read the court’s opinion, click here. 

To read press coverage from Law360, please click here. 

To read press coverage from Bloomberg Law, please click here [a subscription may be required to view].