Pharmavite accuses Bausch, GSK of ‘sham’ patent litigation

Nutritional supplements manufacturer Pharmavite has filed an antitrust suit against Bausch & Lomb and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), claiming that they are filing sham patent litigation related to its “PreserVision” products

The complaint was submitted to the US District Court for the Central District of California on Wednesday, December 8.

Pharmavite alleged that GSK and Bausch are wrongly asserting their patents as the main patent’s enforceability term has expired.

The company claims that GSK and Bausch have made false and misleading claims about their PreserVision products by misrepresenting the scope of US Patent 8,603,522 and attempting to enforce an expired patent—US patent 6,660,297.

The ’522 Patent is a continuation of an abandoned patent application, which in turn is a continuation of the now-expired ’297 Patent.

The reason for attempting to enforce these patents, Pharmavite claims, is for Bausch & Lomb to maintain its monopoly power in the eye health dietary supplement market.

According to data cited in the report, Bausch & Lomb’s share in the market has increased steadily from 68% in 2016 to 79% in 2019 and is predicted to be at 80% in 2021.

‘Misleading claims’

Bausch & Lomb, together with PF Consumer Healthcare, filed the infringement suit against Pharmavite, claiming that its Nature Made vision supplements infringes the ‘522 patent—which is directed to methods of treating or stabilising visual acuity loss for persons suffering from early Age-related macular degeneration.

Pharmavite claims that its Nature Made supplements do not infringe as it does not advertise the supplement to treat any specific disease.

It also claims that Bausch & Lomb makes misleading claims on its website related to the extent that the drug can treat the disease.

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