Aptalis Pharmatech Inc. et al v. Apotex Inc. et al

Filing 81

MEMORANDUM ORDER regarding claim construction. Signed by Judge Sue L. Robinson on 6/18/2015. (fms) Modified on 6/18/2015 (fms).

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
APTALIS PHARMATECH, INC. AND
IVAX INTERNATIONAL GMBH,
Plaintiffs,

v.

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APOTEX INC. AND APOTEX CORP.,
Defendants.

Civ. No. 14-1038-SLR

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MEMORANDUM ORDER
At Wilmington this [e,Faay of June, 2015, having heard argument on, and having
reviewed the papers submitted in connection with, the parties' proposed claim
construction;
IT IS ORDERED that the disputed claim language of U.S. Patent Nos. 7,790,199
("the '199 patent") 1 and 7, 829, 121 ("the '121 patent") shall be construed consistent with
the tenets of claim construction set forth by the United States Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit in Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2005), as follows:
1. "Extended release coating:" 2 "A layer of any substance that is applied onto
the surface of another, the purpose of which is to delay the release of a drug in order to
maintain the drug at therapeutically effective concentrations over an extended period of
time." The specification explains that extended release coatings allow delivery of the

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All references are to the '199 patent.
Found in each claim of the patents-in-suit: "[A]n extended release coating comprising
a water insoluble polymer membrane surrounding said core, wherein said water
insoluble polymer membrane comprises .... " (See e.g., claim 1)

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drug "so as to maintain the drug at therapeutically effective concentrations over an
extended period of time." (1 :19-20; see also 4:50-53, 7:47-50) "The drug-containing
particle may be coated with an extended release (ER) coating . . . . The extended
release coating is applied in an amount necessary to provide the desired release
profile." (5:38-47) The extended release coatings are "membrane coatings [that] can
be applied to the core using any of the coating techniques commonly used in the
pharmaceutical industry, but fluid bed coating is particularly useful." (7:11-13) For
example, a process is "to apply an extended release polymer membrane" onto "beads"
coated with a "seal coat" and then "further coating the ... beads" with another
substance. (8:22-51)
2. The court has provided a construction in quotes for the claim limitations at
issue. The parties are expected to present the claim construction to the jury
consistently with any explanation or clarification herein provided by the court, even if
such language is not included within the quotes.

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