Charles Miller, Senior Counsel, Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. to Speak at Knowledge Congress’ Webcast

NEW YORK - July 23, 2013 - PRLog -- The Knowledge Group/The Knowledge Congress Live Webcast Series, the leading producer of regulatory focused webcasts, has announced today that Charles Miller, Senior Counsel, Sills Cummis & Gross P.C., will speak at a 2-hour webcast entitled: “The US Supreme Court Decision on FTC v. Actavis, Inc.: The Legality of Reverse-Payment Settlements of Pharmaceutical Patent Infringement Litigations and Its Implications for Firms, Individuals, and Innovation LIVE Webcast.” This event is scheduled for July 31, 2013 from 12pm-2pm (ET).

Event Synopsis:

"Reverse-payment" license agreements in settlement of Hatch-Waxman Act ANDA Paragraph IV patent infringement litigations are characterized by the transfer of valuable consideration to "generic" drug company defendants by innovative ("brand-name") pharmaceutical company plaintiffs asserting their Orange-Book-listed patents on drug products approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Adminsitraton, in exchange for delayed market entry of bioequivalent (generic) drugs coupled with the parties' withdrawal of their respective contentions in, and the termination of, the infringement action.

Last year, two closely watched and hotly debated cases at the interface between the patent and antitrust laws were decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals. The Eleventh Circuit in April 2012 in what later became known as FTC v. Actavis, Inc. ("the Androgel case") held that payments made by brand-name patent holders to potential generic entrants in exchange for the latters' delayed market entry in settlement of Paragraph IV litigations were, in effect, per se legal if such settlements fell within the bounds of the so-called "scope of the patent test". Three months later, the Third Circuit in Louisiana Wholesale Drug Co., Inc. v. Merck & Co. et al. ("the K-Dur case II"), in stark conflict with the Eleventh Circuit, held that such settlements are, in effect, presumptively illegal.

In light of the circuit split, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to resolve this exceptionally important question affecting the multi-trillion-dollar global pharmaceutical marketplace. On June 17, 2013 the Court, after examining the reverse payment" agreement at issue in the Androgel case in light of the statutory and regulatory structure and incentives created by the Hatch-Waxman Act, reversed the Eleventh Circuit decision of presumptive legality while at the same time rejecting the FTC's theory of presumptive illegality announced in the July 2012 Third Circuit decision in the K-Dur case II. Instead, in a 5-3 ruling, the Court held that the legality of reverse payment or "pay-for-delay" agreements must be judged under a full rule-of-reason standard of analysis. A week later, on June 24, 2013 the Court, in a GVR order, vacated and remanded the Third Circuit decision in the K-Dur case II for further consideration in light of the Court's decision in the Androgel case.

About Charles Miller

Charles E. Miller is Senior Counsel to the Sills Cummis & Gross Intellectual Property Group and is resident in the Firm's New York office.

Dr. Miller's practice focuses on counseling clients mainly in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, managing their intellectual property portfolios and representing their interests extensively in technology-related litigation, proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, alternative dispute resolution and licensing.

Prior to joining Sills Cummis & Gross, Dr. Miller was a partner and then senior counsel at Dickstein Shapiro and a partner at Pennie & Edmonds, where he practiced intellectual property law beginning in 1971. At Pennie & Edmonds, he served on the executive, membership/partner compensation, recruitment, and practice development committees. Before that, from 1966 to 1971, he worked in the law departments of Allied Chemical Corporation (now Honeywell International, Inc.) and of Celanese Corporation, where he was involved in patenting the companies' inventions.

About Sills Cummis & Gross

Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. is a general commercial and corporate practice law firm of several hundred lawyers including a broad-client-based, full-service intellectual property group whose professional capabililties complement those of the Firm's other practice groups.  Sills Cummis' world-wide client roster ranges from Fortune 500 companies to foreign, institutional, and emerging entities involved in or planning to enter American markets. The physical location of the Firm's offices in New York and New Jersey offers particularly convenient and significant logistical and economic advantages to clients in the pharmaceutical / life sciences and chemical arts having intellectual property and other business assets and concerns in the United States. Further information regarding Sills Cummis & Gross, its lawyers, and practice areas can be found on the Firm's website at www.sillscummis.com

About The Knowledge Group, LLC/The Knowledge Congress Live Webcast Series

The Knowledge Congress is a series of live webcasts produced by The Knowledge Group, LLC, which examine trends, regulatory, and technology changes across a variety of industries. Its mission is to produce unbiased, objective, and educational live webcasts that examine industry trends and regulatory changes from a variety of different perspectives. The goal is to deliver a unique multilevel analysis of an important issue affecting business in a highly focused format.

The organization brings together the world's leading authorities and industry participants through informative two-hour webcasts to study the impact of changes and emerging trends. Hear from leading government officials/regulators, key thought leaders, and industry experts objectively analyze the latest trends and issues and their impact on industries.  For further details, please visit the organization’s website: www.knowledgecongress.org