Janssen v. Celltrion: District Court Invalidates Janssen’s Remicade® Patent on Summary Judgment

As we previously reported, the district court in Janssen v. Celltrion (in which U.S. Patent Nos. 6,284,471 and 7,598,083 are at issue) began hearing oral argument on August 16 on Celltrion’s motion for summary judgment that all claims of the ’471 patent-in-suit are invalid for obviousness-type double patenting, as well as other issues. The hearing ran over to today and is scheduled to continue into tomorrow. Today, Johnson & Johnson announced that the district court has ruled against its subsidiary Janssen and granted Celltrion’s motion for summary judgment on the ground that the ’471 patent’s claims are invalid.  According to the press release, Janssen plans to appeal the court’s decision to the Federal Circuit, which is also considering Janssen’s appeal of the USPTO’s ruling in ex parte reexamination proceedings rejecting all claims of the ’471 patent for obviousness-type double patenting.  Janssen has also asserted the ’083 patent against Celltrion, and the district court has not yet ruled on the validity or infringement of that patent.