Federal Circuit Formally Signs Off In Amgen v. Sandoz: Mandate Issued

The Federal Circuit today issued its formal mandate in Amgen v. Sandoz, as promised in its October 16th order denying the parties’ petitions for rehearing in the case.  With the issuance of the formal mandate, the Federal Circuit has officially ordered that its July opinion in the case must now be implemented.

Had either party sought a stay of the mandate, that would have indicated a plan to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case.  Neither party requested a stay, but this does not necessarily mean they’ll remain silent: Amgen and Sandoz can still petition the Supreme Court to take the case, and the issuance of the mandate should not have a significant impact on any future petition made to the Supreme Court in this case.

As we covered in a previous post, any petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court would be due 90 days from date of the Federal Circuit’s October 16th order denying the petitions for rehearing–(i.e., by January 14, 2016) not from the date of issuance of this mandate.

We will be sure to cover any further developments in this case and other pending BPCIA cases here on the Big Molecule Watch.