Intellectual Property News and Reports

The Mathilda and Terrance Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology Trust (Kennedy) owns U.S. Patent Nos. 7,846,442 (the ’442 patent) and 6,270,766 (the ’766 patent). Both patents are directed towards methods of treating rheumatoid arthritis by co-administering two drugs. AbbVie, Inc. and AbbVie Biotechnology Ltd. (collectively, AbbVie) are licensees of the ’766 patent but not the ’442 patent. In 2011, AbbVie sued Kennedy in the Southern District of New York for a declaratory judgment that the ’442 patent was invalid under the doctrine of obviousness- type double patenting because the ’442 patent was not patentably distinct from the ’766 patent. We agree with AbbVie that the ’442 patent would have been obvious in light of the ’766 patent. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s finding of invalidity.

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