Court: Watson's generic Fentora infringes on branded counterpart

MORRISTOWN, N.J. — A generic painkiller made by Watson Pharmaceuticals infringes a patent covering the branded version, a U.S. District Court ruled.

Watson said Friday that the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware decided that Watson’s generic version of Cephalon’s Fentora (fentanyl) buccal tablets infringes U.S. Patent No. 6,264,981, though the Food and Drug Administration had approved Watson’s version of the drug.

Cephalon sued Watson over the generic version of Fentora in 2008, though the Delaware court ruled that Watson’s version of the drug did not infringe U.S. Patent Nos. 6,200,604 and 6,974,590, and that those two patents are invalid.