UroPep seeks attorneys’ fees from Eli Lilly
Germany-based company Erfindergemeinschaft UroPep has asked for attorneys’ fees from Eli Lilly following UroPep’s win in a Cialis (tadalafil) patent case.
Cialis is a treatment of prostatic diseases owned by Eli Lilly.
The motion for fees was filed on Thursday, June 1 at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division.
UroPep said: “Eli Lilly knew it had zero evidence (expert opinion, documentary evidence, or fact testimony) with which to contest infringement in this case.
“This case is exceptional because Eli Lilly nonetheless continued to litigate the infringement issue, forcing UroPep to incur significant fees.”
Last month, Eli Lilly was ordered to pay UroPep $20 million after the court found that it had infringed a patent belonging to UroPep.
The patent involved was US number 8,791,124 and covers treatment of prostatic disease.
UroPep sued Eli Lilly in July 2015, alleging infringement of patent ‘124.
In the district court’s May order, Eli Lilly was also ordered to pay UroPep pre-judgment interest of $930,100.
UroPep said in its motion that attorneys’ fees are appropriate for cases where a party decides to pursue “unreasonable” litigation that it knows cannot be supported at trial.
The company added: “That is what happened here, where Eli Lilly maintained through trial litigation positions based on no evidence and contradicted by its own witnesses.
“The case is exceptional, and UroPep should be awarded fees associated with the wasted time and resources that Lilly, in its excess, forced UroPep to expend.”
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