Finnegan client Sarepta Therapeutics received an early holiday gift after receiving $115m in lost profit damages following its patent case against Nippon Shinyaku (NS) on December 20.

In 2022, Sarepta countersued NS after the latter sued them in 2021. On December 19, a jury at the District Court for the District of Delaware found that NS's patent was invalid for obviousness.

Managing Intellectual Property interviewed Bill Raich, who co-led the trial team with Latham & Watkins, about how they won the case. Below are snippets from the interview.

How did you prepare for trial?

Bill: Not surprisingly, having worked so many years together, Mike [Morin] and I view trials similarly: just as in team sports, where preparation and practice are often the keys to victory, the same is true for trials.

Our teams worked together closely to make sure that we knew our case and our opponent's case equally well, so we could account for NS's arguments and work them into our narrative. As in team sports, where every player plays an important role, the same was true here.

While the lead lawyers were preparing for opening, closing, and witness examinations, other team members focused on witness and outline preparation and preparing for and arguing pretrial motions, jury instructions, and procedural issues.

We also had outstanding support from Morris Nichols and our terrific client who supported us in every decision we made.

What were the greatest challenges during this case? How did you overcome them?

Bill: NS filed the case, so it went first at trial, giving it a potential procedural advantage. But we were able to overcome that with strong cross-examinations, allowing us to tell our story through NS's witnesses and challenge NS's narrative.

For example, in cross-examining NS witnesses who touted the virtues of their product, we embraced their testimony that patients should come first and have as many choices as possible, but emphasized repeatedly that Dr. Wilton's patent and Sarepta's products came first, paving the way for NS.

By the time we got to our case in chief and Dr. Wilton's patent, we were already in a position of strength.

Why did you seek lost profit damages?

Bill: NS is Sarepta's only competitor in this space, and the evidence was clear that its infringement improperly diverted sales from Sarepta.

Read "Behind the Case: How Latham & Finnegan Secured $115m Biotech Win"

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