Allergan USA, Inc. v. MSN Laboratories Private Limited

District Court, D. Delaware·Decided November 14, 2022·No. 1:19-cv-01727·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE

ALLERGAN USA, INC., ALLERGAN HOLDINGS UNLIMITED COMPANY, and EDEN BIODESIGN, LLC, Plaintiffs, y C.A. No. 19-1727-RGA

SUN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED, Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Jack B. Blumenfeld, Jeremy A. Tigan, MORRIS, NICHOLS, ARSHT & TUNNELL LLP, Wilmington, DE; Lisa B. Pensabene, Hassen A. Sayeed, Daniel O’Boyle, Carolyn S. Wall, James Y. Li, Mark A. Hayden, O MELVENY & MYERS LLP, New York, NY. Attorneys for Plaintiffs.

Dominick T. Gattuso, HEYMAN ENERGIO GATTUSO & HIRZEL LLP, Wilmington, DE; Charles B. Klein, Jovial Wong, WINSTON & STRAWN LLP, Washington, DC; Kevin J. Boyle, WINSTON & STRAWN LLP, Chicago, IL. Attorneys for Defendant.

November 14, 2022

ANDREWS, U ED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE: . Before me «tants motion for judgment on the pleadings with respect to Defendant’s counterclaim for unclean hands and affirmative defenses of unclean hands, prosecution history estoppel and/or judicial history estoppel, and patent misuse. (D.I. 423). The motion has been fully briefed. (D.I. 423, 428). For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs’ motion is granted in part and denied in part. I. BACKGROUND On September 13, 2019, Plaintiffs Allergan USA, Inc., Allergan Holdings Unlimited Company, and Eden Biodesign, LLC (collectively, “Allergan” or “Plaintiffs”) filed their Complaint alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 9,675,587 (the “587 Patent’’) and 10,188,632 (the “°632 Patent”) against Defendant Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited. The alleged infringement is based on Sun filing Abbreviated New Drug Application (““ANDA”) No. 213447

with the FDA. Over the course of the litigation in this case, Allergan filed continuation applications

and prosecuted patents belonging to the patent family at issue. Allergan later obtained U.S. Patent Nos. 11,007,179 (the “°179 Patent”), 11,090,291 (the “’291 Patent”), and 11,160,792 (the “’792 Patent”), and asserted them against Sun in July 2021, August 2021, and November 2021, respectively. The actions asserting these patents were consolidated with this action. Allergan obtained U.S. Patent Nos. 11,229,627 (the “’627 Patent”) and 11,311,516 (the “°516 Patent”) in January 2022 and April 2022, respectively. Allergan filed an Amended Complaint asserting the °627 Patent and the ’516 Patent against Sun. (D.I. 343). Sun filed its Answer on May 16, 2022 (D.I. 346) and an Amended Answer on May 27, 2022. (D.I. 349). In its Amended Answer, Sun raises, among other things, a counterclaim and affirmative defense that the □ °516 Patent is unenforceable because of Allergan’s unclean hands. (/d. at 8-10, 15-18). Sun also

pled three other affirmative defenses. Sun alleges that the asserted claims of the ’627 Patent and ’516 Patent are barred by prosecution history estoppel and/or judicial estoppel, that Allergan’s claims are barred by the equitable doctrines of waiver, estoppel, and/or laches, and that Allergan’s claims are barred by the doctrine of patent misuse. (D.I. 349 at 10). Allergan filed a motion to dismiss Sun’s counterclaim of unclean hands and to strike Sun’s related ferent (D.I. 354). I denied Allergan’s motion to dismiss Sun’s counterclaim of unclean hands. (D.I. 420). I also denied Allergan’s motion to strike Sun’s defense of unclean hands, Sun’s defense of prosecution history estoppel and/or judicial estoppel, and Sun’s defense that Allergan’s claims are barred by the doctrine of patent misuse. (Jd.).! On October 25, 2022, Allergan filed the present motion for judgment on the pleadings with respect to Sun’s counterclaim and defense of unclean hands, defense of prosecution history estoppel and/or judicial estoppel, and defense that Allergan’s claims are barred by the doctrine of patent misuse. (D.I. 423). Il. LEGAL STANDARD

_ A. RULE 12(¢¢) A Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings is reviewed under the same standard as a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss when the Rule 12(c) motion alleges that the plaintiff failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See Turbe v. Gov't of the Virgin Islands, 938 F.2d 427, 428 (3d Cir. 1991); Revell v. Port Auth., 598 F.3d 128, 134 (Gd Cir. 2010). The court must accept the factual allegations in the complaint and take them in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. See Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007); Christopher v. Harbury,

Sun withdrew its defense of waiver, estoppel, and/or laches and so J granted Allergan’s motion to strike this defense. (D.I: 420).

536 U.S. 403, 406 (2002). “When there are well-ple[d] factual allegations, a court should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679 (2009). The court must “draw on its judicial experience and common sense” to make the determination. See id. In ruling on a motion for judgment on the pleadings, the court is generally limited to the pleadings. Mele v. Fed. Reserve Bank of N.Y., 359 F.3d 251, 257 (3d Cir. 2004). The court may, however, consider documents incorporated into the pleadings and those that are in the public record. Pension Ben. Guar. Corp. v. White Consol. Indus., Inc., 998 F.2d 1192, 1196 (3d Cir. 1993). With respect to affirmative defenses, a Rule 12(c) motion is treated “as one to strike Defendant's affirmative defenses pursuant to Rule 12(f).” Intellectual Ventures I LIC v. Symantec Corp., 2014 WL 4773954, at *1 (D. Del. Sept. 24, 2014). “[PJursuant to Rule 12(f), the Court may strike from a pleading any insufficient defense.” Wyeth Holdings Corp. v. Sandoz, Ine. 2012 WL 600715, at *4 (D. Del. Feb. 3, 2012) (internal quotation marks omitted). “When ruling on a motion to strike, ‘the [c]ourt must construe all facts in favor of the nonmoving party and deny the motion if the defense is sufficient under law.’” Sun Microsystems, Inc. v. Versata Enters., Inc., 630 F. Supp. 2d 395, 402 (D. Del. 2009) (quoting Proctor & Gamble Co. v. Nabisco Brands, Inc., 697 F. Supp. 1360, 1362 (D. Del. 1988)). “However, a court is not required to accept affirmative defenses that are mere ‘bare bones conclusory allegations,’ and may strike such inadequately pleaded defenses.” Sun Microsystems, 630 F. Supp. 2d at 408 (quoting Cintron Beverage Group, LLC v. DePersia, 2008 WL 1776430, at *2 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 15, 2008)). “A motion to strike a defense should not be granted “unless the insufficiency of the defense is clearly apparent.’” Sun Microsystems, 630 F. Supp. 2d at 402 (quoting Cipollone v.

. □□ □

Liggett Group, Inc., 789 F.2d 181, 188 (3d Cir. 1986), rev'd on other grounds, 505 U.S. 504 (1992)). B.

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Allergan USA, Inc. v. MSN Laboratories Private Limited, (D. Del. 2022).

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