Justia Arbitration & Mediation Opinion Summaries

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. developed Ampyra®, a drug for multiple sclerosis, and had a licensing agreement with Alkermes PLC, which owned a patent for Ampyra’s active ingredient. The patent expired in July 2018, but Acorda continued to make royalty payments to Alkermes until July 2020, when it began making payments under protest. Acorda initiated arbitration in July 2020, seeking a declaration that the royalty provisions were unenforceable post-patent expiration and a refund of royalties paid since July 2018.The arbitration tribunal agreed that the royalty provisions were unenforceable but ruled that Acorda could only recoup payments made under formal protest. Acorda then petitioned the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to confirm the tribunal’s rulings except for the denial of recoupment of unprotested payments. The district court rejected Acorda’s arguments, which were based on the tribunal’s alleged “manifest disregard” of federal patent law and a non-patent-law principle, and confirmed the award in full.Acorda appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, seeking to reverse the district court’s denial of the 2018–2020 recoupment. The Federal Circuit concluded that it lacked jurisdiction over the appeal because Acorda’s petition did not necessarily raise a federal patent law issue. The court determined that the petition’s request for confirmation did not require a determination of federal patent law, and the request for modification presented alternative grounds, one of which did not involve patent law. Consequently, the Federal Circuit transferred the case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. View "Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. v. Alkermes PLC" on Justia Law

Muller, an employee of the U.S. Government Printing Office, is a union member. The union and GPO are signatories to a multi-party Master Labor Management Agreement, which creates a negotiated grievance procedure for GPO employees to contest adverse employment actions as an alternative to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board. Muller was reassigned within the GPO, resulting in demotion to a lower grade and a reduction in pay. Muller challenged his reassignment through the negotiated procedure. An arbitrator dismissed the grievance as “not arbitrable,” because a four-month deadline for holding a hearing, required by the agreement, had passed. The Federal Circuit reversed; the contractual provision does not require dismissal of the grievance in the event of noncompliance with the four-month deadline. The deadline is merely a nonbinding housekeeping rule to encourage timely arbitration, one that is addressed to the arbitrator as well as the parties. There is no past practice requiring dismissal under the circumstances of this case. View "Muller v. Gov't Printing Office" on Justia Law