Lilly’s double patenting problems originated with the filing of application Serial No. 432,379 (the "379 application") in 1974. The ‘379 application contained claims for a class of compounds, therapeutic methods of using those compounds, and pharmaceutical compositions comprising those compounds. When the last patent stemming from the ‘379 patent issued in 1986, that application had spawned four divisional applications, three continuation applications, and six patents.
One of those divisional applications matured into United States Patent No. 4,018,895 (the "895 patent"). The first and only claim of the ‘895 patent covered the "administration of a pharmaceutical compound within a class of claimed compounds to treat depression in humans." The ‘895 patent expired in 1994.
