Two recent opinions suggest a greater willingness on the part of the federal judiciary to scrutinize more closely so-called “reverse payment settlements” that have once again become prevalent in the pharmaceutical industry.
Reverse payment settlements are entered into by a brand-name drug manufacturer and one or more generic drug manufacturers to resolve patent litigation triggered by the generic manufacturers’ prospective entry into the market. These settlements have been widely criticized as unlawful restraints of trade by, among others, the Federal Trade Commission, which refers to them as “pay-for-delay settlements.”
