Opinion ID: 76321
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Termination of the Agreements

Text: 14 The district court hearing Abbott's infringement suit against Geneva handed down its decision on September 1, 1998. Abbott Labs. v. Geneva Pharms., Inc., Nos. 96-C-3331, 96-C-5868, & 97-C-7587, 1998 WL 566884 (N.D.Ill. Sept. 1, 1998). The court held the '207 patent invalid because the crystalline form of terazosin hydrochloride claimed in the patent was on sale in the United States more than one year before Abbott applied for the patent, see 35 U.S.C. § 102(b). 1998 WL 566884 at . Abbott appealed to the Federal Circuit, which affirmed on July 1, 1999. 182 F.3d 1315 (Fed.Cir.1999). Abbott's petition for certiorari was denied on January 10, 2000. 528 U.S. 1078, 120 S.Ct. 796, 145 L.Ed.2d 671 (2000). 15 The Agreements did not terminate on their own terms, however. The parties terminated the Agreements on August 13, 1999, apparently in response to an FTC investigation of those Agreements. The FTC action resulted in a consent settlement. See Matter of Abbott Labs., No. C-3945, 2000 WL 681848 (F.T.C. May 22, 2000), also available at http:// www.ftc.gov/os/2000/05/c3945.do.htm.