Teva prevails in Copaxone law suit with Mylan/Natco and Sandoz/Momenta

Israel-headquartered Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (Nasdaq: TEVA) says that the US District Court for the Southern District of New York has issued a favorable set of claim construction rulings in the company’s patent infringement law suit against Swiss drug major Novartis’s (NOVN: VX) generics unit Sandoz and Momenta Pharmaceuticals, and Mylan/Natco regarding Teva’s multiple sclerosis product, Copaxone (glatiramer acetate).

The Court adopted all relevant Teva claim construction interpretations and rejected all of the claim construction interpretations put forth by Sandoz/Momenta and Mylan/Natco. In addition, the Court denied Mylan’s motion for summary judgment that the patents at issue are invalid for indefiniteness.

A claim construction decision involves a US District Court examining evidence from all parties on the appropriate meanings of relevant words used in a patent claim. The Court's interpretations of these claims terms impact the assessment of infringement and validity, says Teva, itself the world’s largest generic drugmaker, expressing pleasure with the decision and now awaits the start of a trial on September 7, 2011, the trial date set by the NY Court.