Generics Win SCOTUS Suit: Secret Drug Sales Start Patent-Filing Clock

In a win for the generic drug industry, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled Tuesday (Jan. 22) that secret sales of inventions start the one-year clock to file patents. In the Helsinn Healthcare v. Teva Pharmaceuticals opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the court said the 2011 Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, which overhauled patent law, didn’t change the trigger for the patent-filing clock. The decision was a loss for the Trump administration and the brand-drug lobby, which had backed brand-drug...