Boehringer Ingelheim successfully defends FTC "pay-for-delay" investigation

Client(s) Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") ended an 11-year investigation into the settlements of two Hatch-Waxman patent infringement lawsuits between Jones Day's client, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and a generic drug manufacturer. In addition to investigating the settlements, the FTC instituted a subpoena enforcement action against Boehringer Ingelheim to obtain privileged materials related to the patent settlements, which FTC believed would support its allegations that Boehringer Ingelheim had unlawfully paid the generic drug company to prevent two of its drugs from facing competition from generic versions of the drugs. FTC ultimately ended its investigation without taking any action or obtaining any core attorney-client advisory materials related to the settlement.