sebra-shutterstock-com-court-gavel-
Sebra / Shutterstock.com
12 August 2016Americas

Gilead to be awarded attorney fees after Merck patent battle

The US District Court for the Northern District of California decided yesterday, August 11, that Gilead should be entitled to attorneys’ fees following a lawsuit in which Merck was found guilty of misconduct.

Gilead was initially found to have infringed Merck’s US patents, numbers 7,105,499 and 8,481,712 and a jury awarded Merck $200 million in damages.

But, after Gilead submitted evidence of alleged misconduct, the court freed it from having to pay the fine.

The dispute centres on Gilead’s drugs Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir) and Sovaldi  (sofosbuvir) used to treat hepatitis C.

In the ruling, Judge Beth Labson Freeman said Gilead was entitled to relief from the fees it spent defending the case.

According to Merck, the judgment “punishes its past and deters any future egregious misconduct”.

Gilead argued that it should be awarded the fees simply because Merck’s misconduct affected the judgment.

Both parties have been ordered to schedule a time to discuss the amount of fees payable and will have to submit a proposed briefing schedule on or before August 18.