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Sunday, February 08, 2004

Indiana Law - Federal Judge Young featured in STAR story today about Lilly bench trial

U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young is featured in this story today in the Indianapolis Star. The lead:

A patent trial that could cripple Eli Lilly and Co. is in the hands of an Evansville judge who ruled against another Indianapolis-area company in a patent case three years ago.

An adverse ruling could cause Lilly to lose the exclusive U.S. rights to sell Zyprexa, its blockbuster schizophrenia drug that accounts for a third of the company's sales and a reported one-third of profits. It is one of the most high-stakes patent battles the pharmaceutical industry has seen.

The federal courthouse trial, which is expected to last another week, could result in a decision that would affect the city because of Lilly's size as its largest private employer and its endowment's contributions here.

Although this interesting story focuses more on Judge Young himself than on the trial, it also serves as a wrap-up of the trial's second week. This story, published last Sunday, related the trial's first week highlights. The lead:
It is Lilly's legal Waterloo, the trial the Indianapolis drugmaker must win if it wants to protect the U.S. patent on its No. 1 drug.

Sometimes, though, as the case of Eli Lilly and Co. vs. Zenith Goldline Pharmaceuticals got under way last week, it was hard to keep in mind the gravity of it all.

Everyday concerns kept intruding, from the hardness of the church pew-like wooden benches that prompted some trialgoers to smuggle in Indianapolis Colts bleacher cushions, to the brisk temperatures in Judge Richard L. Young's courtroom that had people edging away from drafty windows in the century-old Federal Courthouse.

The humanity that broke through the courtroom demeanors of witnesses and lawyers also had the effect of softening a high-stakes trial where literally billions of dollars in drug sales are up for grabs in a potentially defining case for Lilly.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 8, 2004 08:20 PM
Posted to Indiana Law