Ferring B.V. v. Allergan, Inc.

316 F. Supp. 3d 623
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedMay 24, 2018
Docket12 Civ. 2650
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 316 F. Supp. 3d 623 (Ferring B.V. v. Allergan, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ferring B.V. v. Allergan, Inc., 316 F. Supp. 3d 623 (S.D. Ill. 2018).

Opinion

Sweet, D.J.

*625Plaintiffs Ferring B.V., Ferring International Center S.A., and Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. ("Ferring," the "Plaintiffs," or the "Counter-Defendants") have moved for judgment on partial findings to dismiss the counterclaims brought by Defendants and Counterclaimants Serenity Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Serenity Pharmaceuticals, LLC ("Serenity") and Reprise Biopharmaceutics, LLC ("Reprise" and, collectively, the "Defendants" or "Counterclaim Plaintiffs") pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(c) for lack of standing. In addition to opposing Ferring's motion, Defendants have moved, as an alternative, to substitute Dr. Seymour Fein ("Fein") in place of the current Counterclaim Plaintiffs pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 17(a)(3).

This is the latest round in the litigation arising out of the development and patenting of desmopressin, a synthetic version of an antidiuretic human hormone.

Based on the facts and conclusions set forth below, Plaintiff's motion is denied, rendering Defendants' motion moot.

Prior Proceedings

On April 5, 2012, Ferring commenced this patent infringement action, alleging inventorship claims over certain patents owned at the time by then-Defendants Allergan, Ind., Allergan USA, Inc., and Allergan Sales, LLC (together, "Allergan") related to formulations of desmopressin. Dkt. No. 1. Two years of motion practice followed, resulting in certain of Ferring's claims being dismissed as time-barred. See generally Ferring B.V. v. Allergan, Inc., No. 12 Civ. 2650 (RWS), 2016 WL 3390802, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. June 14, 2016) (summarizing the grant of Allergan's motion to dismiss and denial of Ferring's motions for reconsideration and leave to file an amended complaint). On April 3, 2014, Allergan filed counterclaims alleging ownership over Ferring's desmopressin patents. Dkt. No. 93.

On August 31, 2015, the remainder of Ferring's claims were dismissed on summary judgment under the doctrine of equitable estoppel. Ferring B.V. v. Allergan, Inc., 253 F.Supp.3d 708 (S.D.N.Y. 2015). Certification of judgment for immediate appeal as to this Court's motion to dismiss and equitable estoppel decisions was denied. B.V. v. Allergan, Inc., No. 12 Civ. 2650 (RWS), 2016 WL 3390802 (S.D.N.Y. June 14, 2016).

On January 7, 2016, this Court granted, in part, Ferring's summary judgment motion on Allergan's counterclaims, which left the remaining issue for trial whether or not Fein was a co-inventor on U.S. Patent Nos. 7,560,429 ("the '429 Patent") and 7,947,654 ("the '654 Patent," and, with the '429 Patent, the "Ferring Patents"). Ferring B.V. v. Allergan, Inc., 166 F.Supp.3d 415 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

In July 2017, following the dissolution of an assignment agreement between Allergan, Serenity, and Reprise, the three parties *626moved to substitute Reprise and Serenity in place of Allergan as Counterclaim Plaintiffs in this action; at the same time, Ferring moved to dismiss the surviving counterclaims for lack of standing. Dkt. Nos. 263, 269.

On September 14, 2017, the Court granted the substitution motion and denied Ferring's motion with leave to renew. Ferring B.V. v. Allergan, Inc., No. 12 Civ. 2650 (RWS), 2017 WL 4083579 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 14, 2017) (the "Substitution Opinion"). After reviewing the agreements disputed to have transferred alleged rights in the Ferring Patents-first from Fein to Reprise (the "March 2007 Agreement," DTX 244), then to Allergan (the "Three-Way Agreement," DTX 186), and then back to Reprise and Serenity (the "Dissolution and Reversion," DTX 459, 460)-it was concluded that the contracts could "establish that Fein's intellectual property rights have been transferred," but that there were "factual disputes irresolvable" at the time of the motion. Id., 2017 WL 4083579, at *4-*5. It was noted that language in the agreement transferring certain rights from Reprise and Serenity to Allergan also contained warranties in conflict with the alleged rights transferred. See id. As such, it was concluded that interpretation of the contracts could only be resolved, "and should be addressed," by the parties at trial. Id.

Trial commenced on February 21, 2018, at which time Fein testified. Fein stated that the March 2007 Agreement with Reprise was intended to assign Reprise the "ownership and interest" in his inventions for "low dose and sublingual and other routes of administration that could exploit the low dose hypothesis." Tr. 109:17-19.1 He stated further that it was not his intention to retain rights in those inventions following the agreement. Tr. 109:23-110:7. Similarly, Fein stated that he had intended the Three-Way Agreement between Reprise, Serenity, and Allergan to convey to Allergan the same interests and rights that Fein conveyed earlier to Reprise. Tr. 110:11-112:9.

On cross-examination, Fein made additional statements as to the agreements. Fein testified that the Ferring Patents did not, at the time of the Three-Way Agreement, meet all the stated descriptions of the patent rights to be assigned by Reprise under the agreement. For example, Fein stated that, at the time of the agreement, the Ferring Patents were not in Reprise's "sole and exclusive" ownership as stated to be true under the agreement. Tr. 251:13-252:20. The transferred rights that were returned to Reprise and Serenity from Allergan following the 2017 Reprise Assignment included only certain enumerated patents and did not include the Ferring Patents or discuss the return of any "inventions." Tr. 253:2-255:8.

During cross-examination of Fein, Ferring moved pursuant to Rule 52(c) to dismiss Defendants' counterclaims for lack of standing. Tr. 256:15-257:13. Defendants were given additional time at trial to introduce evidence or testimony on the issue of standing. Tr. 262:7-263:6. Both parties elected to have the issues determined based on the evidence already submitted, at which point a briefing scheduling was agreed upon. Tr. 272:2-276:14. On March 12, 2018, accompanying their motion papers, Defendants moved to join Fein as a Counterclaimant pursuant to Rule 17. Dkt. No. 318.

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Bluebook (online)
316 F. Supp. 3d 623, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ferring-bv-v-allergan-inc-ilsd-2018.