CAFC Affirms District Court's Denial of Mandatory Stay for ITC Respondent Who Voluntarily Dismissed Complaint

"These circumstances fit squarely within the common-law principle of prohibiting the use of voluntary dismissal to accomplish indirectly what cannot be accomplished directly."

"Ascendis was not entitled to a mandatory stay because Ascendis voluntarily dismissed its original complaint and filed a virtually identical refiled complaint to restart the statutory deadline."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's decision denying Ascendis Pharma's motion for a mandatory stay under 28 U.S.C. § 1659(a)(2). Ascendis had voluntarily dismissed its original complaint and refiled a similar one to reset the statutory deadline. The case involved a dispute over whether a respondent in an ITC proceeding could seek a stay after missing the deadline for a previous action. BioMarin owns a patent related to treatments for achondroplasia, which Ascendis is contesting.

Read at IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law