`
`
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`_____________________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`_____________________
`
`
`ARGENTUM PHARMACEUTICALS LLC
`
`Petitioner
`
`v.
`
`CIPLA LIMITED
`
`Patent Owner
`
`_____________________
`
`Case No. IPR2017-00807
`
`U.S. Patent No. 8,168,620
`_____________________
`
`
`PATENT OWNER CIPLA LTD.’S MOTION TO EXPUNGE
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Mail Stop “PATENT BOARD”
`Patent Trial and Appeal Board
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
`
`
`
`
`
`I.
`
`Introduction
`
`Pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 42.56, Patent Owner Cipla respectfully submits this
`
`Motion to Expunge exhibits CIP2151-CIP2155, the Second Declaration of Dr.
`
`Hugh Smyth (CIP2150), and the Second Declaration of Maureen Donovan (1145)
`
`from the record. These exhibits disclose highly confidential research and
`
`development information of both Cipla and Meda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (now part
`
`of Mylan Specialty L.P.) (exclusive licensee of the ’620 patent) concerning the
`
`formulation of the Duonase and Dymista products that embody the ’620 patent.
`
`Petitioner Argentum Pharmaceuticals LLC. does not oppose this motion.
`
`II. Authorization for the motion
`The Board authorized this motion in an email dated May 24, 2018.
`
`III. Factual background
`On November 20, 2017, Cipla filed an unopposed Motion to Seal exhibits
`
`CIP2151-CIP2155, and the Second Declaration of Dr. Hugh Smyth (CIP2150).
`
`(Paper 23.) On March 6, 2018, Argentum filed an unopposed Motion to Seal the
`
`Second Declaration of Maureen Donovan (1145) because it “cites to and discusses
`
`formulation details of Meda/Mylan’s Dymista product that Patent Owner Cipla’s
`
`[sic] has designated as confidential, and is the subject of Cipla’s own motion to
`
`seal.” (See Paper 29 at 2.)
`
`
`
`- 1 -
`
`
`
`This proceeding was terminated on May 21, 2018. (See Paper 60.) The
`
`Board has not ruled on these motions to seal as this proceeding was terminated
`
`before oral hearing.
`
`IV. Argument
`37 C.F.R. § 42.56 provides: “[a]fter denial of a petition to institute a trial or
`
`after final judgment in a trial, a party may file a motion to expunge confidential
`
`information from the record.” The Board has previously explained that a party
`
`moving to expunge has to show that i) “any information sought to be expunged
`
`constitutes confidential information” and ii) the movant’s interest in expunging the
`
`information “outweighs the public’s interest in maintaining a complete and
`
`understandable file history.” RPX Corp. v. Virnetx Inc., IPR 2014-00171, Paper 62
`
`at 3 (P.T.A.B. Sept. 9, 2014). The rules identify confidential information as “a
`
`trade secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial
`
`information.” 37 C.F.R. § 42.54(a)(7). And the Board must strike “a balance
`
`between the public’s interest in maintaining a complete and understandable file
`
`history and the parties’ interest in protecting truly sensitive information.” 37 C.F.R.
`
`§ 42.54(a); 77 Fed. Reg. 48756, 48760 (Aug. 14, 2012).
`
`In this case, exhibits CIP2150-CIP2155, and 1145 contain competitively-
`
`sensitive and highly-confidential research and development information of Cipla
`
`and Meda, including formulation information concerning the concentration of the
`
`components of the Duonase and Dymista products that embody the ’620 patent.
`
`
`
`- 2 -
`
`
`
`This information is proprietary, non-public information that, if disclosed to the
`
`public, would cause significant harm to Cipla and Meda (now Mylan) and could be
`
`used to their competitive disadvantage, for example, by providing to competitors
`
`important non-public formulation information. Thus, Cipla has met its burden of
`
`showing that “any information sought to be expunged constitutes confidential
`
`information.” RPX Corp. v. Virnetx Inc., IPR 2014-00171, Paper 62 at 3 (P.T.A.B.
`
`Sept. 9, 2014).
`
`In addition, Cipla’s interest in expunging exhibits CIP2150-CIP2155, and
`
`1145 “outweighs the public’s interest in maintaining a complete and
`
`understandable file history.” (Id.) The Board did not rely on these exhibits in
`
`arriving at a final written decision. Accordingly, there is no need for this
`
`competitively-sensitive and highly-confidential information to become public as it
`
`is not needed to understand the Board’s decision. In any event, narrowly-redacted
`
`versions of each of the exhibits sought to be expunged (see exhibits CIP2171-2176,
`
`and 1165) will remain in the record. These exhibits “fulfill adequately the needs of
`
`the public to maintain a complete and understandable record in this case.” (Id. at
`
`30.) Accordingly, because public access to exhibits CIP2171-2176, and 1165
`
`fulfills the public’s interest in maintaining a complete and understandable record,
`
`the expungement of exhibits CIP2150-CIP2155, and 1145 from the record will not
`
`diminish the public’s understanding.
`
`
`
`- 3 -
`
`
`
`V. Conclusion
`For the reasons stated above, Cipla respectfully requests that exhibits
`
`CIP2151-CIP2155, the Second Declaration of Dr. Hugh Smyth (CIP2150), and the
`
`Second Declaration of Maureen Donovan (1145) be expunged from the record.
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`STERNE, KESSLER, GOLDSTEIN & FOX P.L.L.C.
`
`
`
`
`
`Dennies Varughese
`
`Date: May 24, 2018
`Registration No. 61,868
`
`
`
`
`
`
`1100 New York Avenue, N.W. Attorney for Patent Owner
`Washington, D.C.20005-3934
`
`(202) 371-2600
`
`
`
`- 4 -
`
`
`
`
`
`CERTIFICATION OF SERVICE (37.C.F.R. §§ 42.6(e), 42.105(a))
`
`The undersigned hereby certifies that the above-captioned CIPLA LTD.'S
`
`MOTION TO EXPUNGE was served in its entirety on May 24, 2018, upon the
`
`following parties via electronic mail:
`
`Michael R. Houston: mhouston@foley.com
`Joseph P. Meara: jmeara@foley.com
`James P. McParland: jmcparland@foley.com
`Tyler C. Liu: TLiu@agpharm@foley.com
`ARG-dymista@foley.com
`
`FOLEY & LARDNER LLP
`321 North Clark Street
`Suite 2800
`Chicago, IL 60654
`
`
`
`
`
`STERNE, KESSLER, GOLDSTEIN & FOX P.L.L.C.
`
`
`Dennies Varughese
`Registration No. 61,868
`Lead Attorney for Patent Owner
`
`
`
`
`Date: May 24, 2018
`1100 New York Avenue, N.W.
`Washington, D.C. 20005
`(202) 371-2600
`
`9379952.1
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.
After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.
Accept $ Charge
Still Working On It
This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.
Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.
A few More Minutes ... Still Working
It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.
Thank you for your continued patience.
This document could not be displayed.
We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.
Your account does not support viewing this document.
You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.
Your account does not support viewing this document.
Set your membership
status to view this document.
With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll
get a whole lot more, including:
- Up-to-date information for this case.
- Email alerts whenever there is an update.
- Full text search for other cases.
- Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.
One Moment Please
The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.
Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.
Your document is on its way!
If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.
Sealed Document
We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.
If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.
Access Government Site
