After reconciling a trade secrets dispute involving a Chinese business partner earlier in the month, Eli Lilly and Co. must now defend the validity of a patent covering its second-best-selling drug.
--- # [](https://www.innovation-asset.com/) - [Decipher®](https://www.innovation-asset.com/products-decipher) - [Services](https://www.innovation-asset.com/products/professional-services-0) - [Resources](https://www.innovation-asset.com/resources) - [Blog](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog) - [About Us](https://www.innovation-asset.com/about) - [Contact Us](https://www.innovation-asset.com/contact) # Innovation Asset Blog # Pharmaceutical firm navigates unique patent defense by [Peter Ackerman](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/author/peter-ackerman) Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly and Company has had to weather a variety of foreign and domestic intellectual property controversies in recent weeks. After reconciling a trade secrets dispute involving a Chinese business partner earlier in the month, the firm must now defend the validity of a patent covering its second-best-selling drug. Lilly currently benefits from a unique method-of-use patent that accompanies the active ingredient patent it holds over its proprietary lung cancer drug, Alimta. According to The Indianapolis Star, the treatment generated [$2.6 billion in sales](http://www.indystar.com/article/20130819/BUSINESS/308190087/Eli-Lilly-Co-battling-generic-drugmakers-over-cancer-treatment-patent) last year - more than 10 percent of Lilly's total 2012 revenue. However, a challenge filed by several generic drugmakers threatens to strip Alimta of as many as five years of market exclusivity. The case hinges on whether or not the method-of-use described in Lilly's patent constitutes novel innovation, according to the news outlet. While plaintiffs argue that anyone reasonably educated in nutritional sciences could have come up with the idea to supplement Alimta with vitamin B12 and folic acid, Lilly contends that the treatment plan was considered counterintuitive at the time, and even derided as "crazy" by one medical expert. Lilly has grown [all too familiar](http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/19/us-lilly-teva-alimta-idUSBRE97I0RB20130819) with patent cliffs in recent years, according to Reuters, with its schizophrenia treatment Zyprexa losing market exclusivity in 2011 and its flagship antidepressant Cymbalta scheduled to come off patent in December. But as one investment expert told the news source, there is little legal precedent to suggest who the court may side with in this latest dispute.  ### [Peter Ackerman](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/author/peter-ackerman) Founder & CEO, Innovation Asset Group, Inc. [August 20, 2013](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/pharmaceutical-firm-navigates-unique-patent-defense) ### Subscribe to Email Updates ### Introducing Decipher® ### Categories - [Intellectual Property Management (459)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/intellectual-property-management) - [Commercialization and Licensing (210)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/commercialization-and-licensing) - [Invention Disclosure (201)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/invention-disclosure) - [Innovation Strategy (20)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/innovation-strategy) - [Ideas for Good (6)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/ideas-for-good) - [Innovation Team (3)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/innovation-team) ### News Archives - [January 2013 (26)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2013/01) - [September 2012 (25)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/09) - [October 2012 (22)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/10) - [November 2012 (22)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/11) - [November 2010 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2010/11) - [February 2011 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2011/02) - [July 2012 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/07) - [December 2012 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/12) - [January 2012 (20)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/01) - [March 2012 (20)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/03) ##### Portland, Oregon USA ##### © Innovation Asset Group, Inc. ##### [Privacy Policy](https://www.innovation-asset.com/privacy-policy/) | [Terms & Conditions](https://www.innovation-asset.com/terms-and-conditions/) | [Contact Us](https://www.innovation-asset.com/contact/) -