Novo Nordisk vs Dr Reddy’s, Apple Inc vs CCI, Challenge to Labour code & More

“No executive can influence the judiciary. The judiciary is separate and independent from the executive. And that is the rule of law that we have. No one can trample upon it.”

-Supreme Court judge Justice Manmohan at a Symposium.

Why Novo Nordisk Failed in its Battle to Stop Dr. Reddy’s From Entering GLP-1 Race
Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk has failed in its attempt to restrain Indian pharma giant Dr. Reddy’s from manufacturing its own version of the game-changing GLP-1 drug, that uses the semaglutide compound, for diabetes and weight management.

Novo is fighting a patent infringement battle with Dr. Reddy’s Ltd in the Indian courts and wanted the Delhi High Court, in the meantime, to bar DRL from producing the generic version of the drug. The Indian company gave an undertaking to the court that it will not sell its GLP-1 drug in jurisdictions where Novo enjoys patent protection which the court accepted essentially paving the way for DRL to continue exporting the drug in select jurisdictions and continuing to manufacture it.

At the heart of this decision was the high court’s rationale that on the face of it, DRL has credibly pointed out that Novo’s new patent might, after all, be invalid. The Indian company highlighted that the Denmark-based company had patented the compound earlier and sought a second patent only on the basis of a minor variation and not really an innovation.

This double patenting, the court then noted, may have resulted in evergreening, a practice which is not permitted under the Indian law. Evergreening is when companies seek new patent protection for their formulae by making minor and incremental changes so as to retain protection for longer and continued time and establishing a monopoly. Since Indian law on patents disallows evergreening, it needs a material innovation for seeking fresh protection – a case that may not be true in Novo’s second patent as per the high court’s “prima facie findings”.

The court refused to hold DRL’s hands but the company continues to be bound by its own commitment. In any case, Novo’s patent protection for its drugs like Ozempicare due to expire in 2026 and the company also has some legal options like appeals before the top court available.

Courts: 

• Delhi High Court rejected Denmark-based pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk’s petition to restrain India’s Dr. Reddy’s from manufacturing and exporting its version of the GLP-1 drug used to treat diabetes and obesity. The high court has accepted DRL’s undertaking that it will not sell the drug in India where Novo’s GLP-1 drug Ozempic enjoys patent protection until 2026

• The Delhi High Court has sought Union government’s response on plea that challenges notification of the Industrial Relations Code, one of the four new labour codes notified by the government over no rules framed for setting up of the tribunals for dispute resolution

• Kerala High Court rejects JioStar’s plea challenging the Competition Commission of India’s probe into allegations against the company, court says CCI operates outside of the purview of regulators

• Supreme Court refuses to interfere with SAT’s ruling which upheld a ₹3 million fine on Reliance Industries over Jio-Facebook MoU media leak dating back to 2019-20

• Delhi High Court issues notice to the CCI and union government on Apple Inc’s petition challenging the amendment to the competition law over global turnover-based penalty, CCI says Apple trying to scuttle ongoing probe with this litigation

• Supreme Court directs the federal agency CBI to probe digital arrest scams

• Anil Ambani petitions the Supreme Court against Bombay High Court’s decision to uphold the “fraud” tag by State Bank of India

Other:

• Sr. Advocate Milind Sathe appointed Advocate General for Maharashtra

The Big Listings:

• Dec 8: Allahabad NCLT to hear Jaiprakash Associates’ Insolvency case for approval of successful bid

• Dec 8: Supreme Court to hear Delhi NCR air pollution matter

• Dec 8: Supreme Court to continue hearing bail pleas by students and activists in Delhi riots of 2020 case

• Dec 16: Delhi High Court to hear Apple Inc.’s plea against India’s competition law’s provisions on global turnover-based penalties on MNC

• December: Supreme Court to hear Sahara’s plea for court’s nod to sell its properties to Adani to raise funds

• Jan 19: Securities Appellate Tribunal to hear appeal by Jane Street challenging SEBI’s move to allegedly refuse access to important documents to the firm in the case against it

* The dates of hearing can change and a concrete list is prepared just a day before

Legal Moves: 

• Prateek G joins CleverTap as Head – Legal

• Ketan Makhija, Abhinav Agnihotri and Guneet Singh Chadha leave Burgeon Law to join Kochhar & Co

• Vivek Jha leaves Fox Mandal & Associates to join Antares Legal

• Phoenix Legal hires Radhika Raman as partner to lead derivatives practice in Mumbai