Federal Circuit Affirms Tygacil Formulation Patent

In a non-precedential decision in Apotex, Inc. v. Wyeth LLC, the Federal Circuit affirmed the decision of the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) finding that Apotex had failed to show that claims directed to a specific formulation of tigecycline were invalid as obvious. Both the PTAB and Federal Circuit decisions show that while the burden of proof is lower in an inter partes review proceeding than a district court proceeding, it still can be difficult to invalidate a patent. Indeed, Apotex's second attempt to invalidate this Tygacil formulation patent in an inter partes review proceeding was denied institution in September 2015, while this appeal was pending.

The Tygacil Formulation Patent At Issue