Posts Tagged: "arbitrage"

Federal Circuit Hears Oral Arguments on St. Regis Appeal of Tribal Sovereign Immunity

On Monday, June 4th, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard oral arguments in St. Regis Mohawk Tribe v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals, a case appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) which asks the appeals court to determine whether tribal sovereign immunity can be asserted to terminate inter partes review (IPR) proceedings at the PTAB. The Federal Circuit panel consisting of Circuit Judges Kimberley Moore, Timothy Dyk and Jimmie Reyna lobbed tough questions at counsel representing appellants St. Regis and Allergan, appellees Mylan and Teva as well as the respondent for the U.S. federal government, without giving much clue as to whether the panel favored the argument offered by any particular side.

Allergan’s patent transaction with St. Regis Mohawks could presage more arbitrage patent transactions

News of the St. Regis patent transaction has sparked interest in others pursuing similar arbitrage arrangements that provide revenue streams to Native American tribes outside of gambling and tobacco. According to Shore, there’s a lot of interest in pursuing such deals in sectors outside of pharmaceuticals. White seemed confident that other tribes would soon pursue their own similar IP deals. “There are 500 tribes in the U.S.,” White said. “There is a lot of media surrounding this and there is a lot of money. There will be other tribes.” Small operating companies have plenty of reason to contemplate such a transaction of their own patents themselves, Shore said. “There may be no IPRs filed yet, but they may be looking to do this preemptively so that when they engage in an enforcement campaign, they have removed the risk of IPR.”