TheAppellate Litigationteam secured a significant victory for Sandoz, Inc. with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturning a $39 million damages award in a patent dispute with Allergan and Duke University (Allergan, Inc. et al. v. Sandoz Inc.). Sandoz had been found liable for infringing a patent relating to Allergan's product Latisse®, an eyelash-growth drug containing the active ingredient bimatoprost. Sandoz had launched a generic version after defeating several previous rounds of patent litigation. The Federal Circuit agreed with Sandoz that the asserted patent was invalid because at the time of filing the patent application, the patentee did not adequately describe the invention that it later claimed. The Federal Circuit reversed the judgment without remanding, vindicating Sandoz's position completely.
This outcome represents a complete defense win after years of hard-fought litigation and reinforces Goodwin's strength in appellate advocacy and complex life-sciences patent disputes — particularly those involving pharmaceutical formulations and method-of-use patents.
Sandozis the global leader in affordable medicines, with a growth strategy driven by its Purpose: pioneering access for patients. More than 20,000 people of 100 nationalities work together to ensure 900 million patient treatments are provided by Sandoz, generating substantial global healthcare savings and an even larger social impact. Its leading portfolio of approximately 1,300 products addresses diseases from the common cold to cancer. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Sandoz traces its heritage back to 1886. Its history of breakthroughs includes Calcium Sandoz in 1929, the world's first oral penicillin in 1951, and the world's first biosimilar in 2006. In 2024, Sandoz recorded net sales of USD 10.4 billion.
The Goodwin appellate team was led by partnerWilly Jay(who argued the appeal) and former partner Jerry Cedrone, and included associateGabriel Bruno Ferrante, as well as co-counsel from the trial team at Steptoe LLP. The team also benefited from input from Goodwin partnersEmily Rapalino,Kevin Martin,Brian Burgess, andWill Evans.