Blog Post

Jun 26, 2018

Choose Your Weapon: Senate Amendment Pits ANDA/BPCIA Pathway Against Post-Grant Proceedings

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Per Senator Orrin Hatch, the America Invents Act has disrupted the “careful balance” he struck with Senator Waxman in the development of the decades-old Hatch-Waxman Act governing the adjudication of generic drug litigation. On June 13, 2018, Senator Hatch filed an amendment in the Senate Judiciary Committee to remedy the perceived conflict between the “carefully calibrated requirements” of Abbreviated New Drug Application (“ANDA”) litigation under the Hatch-Waxman Act and the “much blunter instrument” of post-grant proceedings before the United States Patent Trial and Appeal (“PTAB”). According to Senator Hatch, the amendment “will ensure that Hatch-Waxman continues to operate as originally intended by protecting the ability of generic drug companies to develop low-cost drugs while at the same time ensuring brand-name companies have sufficient protections in place to recoup their investments.” A press release of Senator Hatch’s remarks is available here.

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