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Congress Will Investigate Drug Company That Gave Its Patents to Mohawk Tribe

posted by Fnord666 on Thursday October 05 2017, @04:51PM   
from the three-card-monte dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Members of Congress want answers about a multinational drug company's deal to save its patents by handing them off to a Native American tribe.

Last month, Allergan gave the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe six patents that protect Restasis, the company's blockbuster eye drug. The goal is a sophisticated legal strategy to avoid having the US Patent Office proceed with a process called inter partes review, which is a kind of quasi-litigation in which opponents of a patent can try to have them revoked. Lawyers for Allergan are hoping that the principle of sovereign immunity, in which Native American tribes are treated as sovereign nations in certain ways, will protect their patents from government review.

The strategy may well succeed. IPR proceedings against patents held by public universities have been canceled on at least two occasions, when the Patent Trial and Appeals Board held that the universities benefit from sovereign immunity because they are state actors. The St. Regis Mohawk tribe will be paid an annual royalty of $15 million as long as the patents are valid.

The move is a legal maneuver to avoid challenges to their patent.

Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/10/congress-will-investigate-drug-company-that-gave-its-patents-to-mohawk-tribe/

takyon: Allergan.

Previously: Allergan Pulls a Fast One

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Original Submission

• Null and Void Null and Void (Score: 5, Insightful) by crafoo on Thursday October 05 2017, @05:22PM (2 children)

  by crafoo (6639) on Thursday October 05 2017, @05:22PM (#577531)

  They patent office should declare the patents null and void. If the patents are protected from opponents of the patent through the means of this transfer, then the protections the patent grants should also be voided.

  I have a simple test I like to invoke when considering the legal and tax tricks of large corporations: if an individual came into a court room and presented this strategy, would it work? Would the judge stand for such obvious and transparent manipulation? Then why should a corporation be allowed to do it?

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• Re:Null and Void Re:Null and Void (Score: 4, Informative) by TheLink on Thursday October 05 2017, @06:24PM (1 child)

  by TheLink (332) on Thursday October 05 2017, @06:24PM (#577563) Journal

  Well corporations can tell the public that various profits are theirs (in financial reports and other statements), and they can use the money to buy stuff or as collateral for loans. But at the same time they can tell the Tax Dept that the profits aren't theirs but some entity in Ireland and thus they shouldn't pay tax on them.
  
  Go figure ;).

  Parent

  • Re:Null and Void (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 05 2017, @09:38PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 05 2017, @09:38PM (#577654)

    Its the circle of profits (corporate life)

    Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba
    Sithi uhm ingonyama
    Nants ingonyama bagithi baba
    Sithi uhhmm ingonyama
    Ingonyama
    Siyo Nqoba izinzuzo zakho

    Parent