Abbott prevails in contempt proceedings to enforce injunction prohibiting Apotex from obtaining FDA approval for generic version of Depakote®

Client(s) Abbott Laboratories

Jones Day client Abbott Laboratories obtained a Hatch-Waxman Act injunction prohibiting Apotex from obtaining FDA approval of its ANDA for a generic version of Abbott's blockbuster drug, Depakote®, which was unanimously affirmed by the Federal Circuit. After discovering that Apotex was trying to circumvent that injunction by using another company to file a new ANDA for the same product, Abbott initiated proceedings to enforce the injunction before the original trial judge, Judge Richard A. Posner, sitting by designation. Following expedited briefing and an evidentiary hearing, Judge Posner found Apotex in contempt and extended the original injunction to cover the new ANDA. The Federal Circuit, as a matter of first impression, held that there was no contempt, but affirmed extension of the prior injunction in summary proceedings - saving our client untold dollars by not having to prosecute an entire new Hatch-Waxman suit.

Abbott Labs. v. Apotex, Inc., 455 F. Supp. 2d 831 (N.D. Ill. 2006), aff'd in relevant part, 503 F.3d 137 (Fed. Cir. 2007)