Litigation against a patent claim

Johnson & Johnson came to us for litigation support in defending its extended wear contact lenses against a patent claim by CibaVision (a subsidiary of Novartis). We managed the litigation in four jurisdictions, and coordinated across 11. The litigation raised a variety of issues such as novelty, insufficiency and infringement so rigorous control of the whole process was essential to ensure that every relevant issue was fully and consistently developed across all jurisdictions. Both the arguments and the case itself were technically complex so our experience and litigation management skills were key in making sure our client's case, and presentation to the court, was not compromised in any way. We provided testimony from six expert witnesses and used our high level expertise in optical science and chemistry to work alongside technical experts.

To help J&J prove that prior art lenses had in fact been clinically acceptable (therefore challenging the validity of the patent) we commissioned a series of clinical trials of those lenses. We organised testing and clinical trials and also helped to obtain ethics committee approval and develop experimental protocols. Our understanding of the regulatory systems meant that we were well placed to support the development of experiments within the different regimes. In the UK, the patent was revoked and J&J obtained an order for the payment of their fees. Spanish, French and Irish litigation is ongoing.

Handling competition issues

Advising Wyeth throughout the course of the European Commission's recent inquiry into the pharmaceutical sector, we provided advice around their response to the Commission's vast information requests through to the Commission's preliminary findings and final report. We also attended the initial 'dawn raids'. Drawing on the expertise of our international network (including competition, intellectual property and dispute resolution specialists across eight different jurisdictions), we were able to identify and advise Wyeth on the key implications of the inquiry aswell as on its business goals and strategies.

We also ensured that the challenging, and often novel, legal issues stemming from the EU competition law aspect of the inquiry, did not affect our client's wider commercial interests. By containing the scope of information disclosure, sought by the Commission, in relation to Wyeth's EU and US antitrust and IP advice, and by advising on the implications of EU law for ongoing disputes - we successfully mitigated any risks from the inquiry into Wyeth's civil IP litigation in the US and the EU.

Additional case studies coming soon.

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