Supreme Court refuses to hear Apotex appeal of Depakote case

NEW YORK The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal by Canadian generic drug manufacturer Apotex regarding an epilepsy drug.

Abbott brought a patent-infringement suit against Apotex in 1997 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. It alleged that Apotex’s generic version of Abbott’s drug Depakote violated patents ‘731 and ‘326. The Illinois court ruled in favor of Abbott, and the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the decision.