Teva Pharms. USA, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc. (574 U.S. 318)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 20, 2015 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 574 U.S. 318 · 135 S. Ct. 45
- Decided
- January 20, 2015
- Term
- October Term 2014
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice Breyer
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2014 1 Syllabus NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U.S. 321 , 337. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Syllabus TEVA PHARMACEUTICALS USA, INC., ET AL. v. SANDOZ, INC., ET AL. CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT No. 13–854. Argued October 15, 2014—Decided January 20, 2015 Petitioners, Teva Pharmaceuticals (and related firms), own a patent that covers a manufacturing method for the multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone. When respondents, Sandoz, Inc. (and other firms), tried to market a generic version of the drug, Teva sued them for patent in fringement. Sandoz countered that the patent was invalid. Specifi cally, Sandoz argued that the claim that Copaxone’s active ingredient had “a molecular weight of 5 to 9 kilodaltons” was fatally indefinite, see 35 U.S. C . §112 ¶2, because it did not state which of three meth ods of calculation—the weight of the most prevalent molecule, the weight as calculated by the average weight of all molecules, or weight as calculated by an average in which heavier molecules…
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