Court Upholds Two Depomed Patents in Purdue Lawsuit

A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld two Depomed patents, enabling it to resume its lawsuit against Purdue Pharma.

Last week’s ruling affirmed a determination by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board back in July that Depomed’s patents for a controlled-release formulation of the pain drug oxycodone were valid.

Purdue, which makes OxyContin, had challenged the validity of the patents as obvious, and took the case to the federal circuit after the USPTO rejected its arguments.