Earlier this month, in Silbershear v.
Valeant,1 a federal judge denied a lawyer's
attempt to act as a
qui tam
relator under the False Claims Act (FCA) based on information
the lawyer uncovered in past litigation.
Prior to bringing his qui tam suit, the lawyer
represented a plaintiff drug company in challenging the validity of
defendants' patent. During the course of that litigation, the
lawyer discovered articles that were not previously disclosed to
the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) during the
defendants' initial patent application. The Patent Trial and
Appeal Board (PTAB) struck down the validity of defendants'
patent, citing the articles as evidence that the patent relied on
"obvious" information.