Allergan Gives Drug Patent to Mohawk Tribe, Claims Sovereign Immunity

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/health/allergan-patent-tribe.html?module=WatchingPortal&region=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=thumb_square&state=standard&contentPlacement=11&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2017%2F09%2F08%2Fhealth%2Fallergan-patent-tribe.html&eventName=Watching-article-click&_r=0

by gingerbread-man • 9 years ago

25 7 9 years ago

nytimes.com

ringaroundthetx• 9 years ago

So Allergan paid for the patent, and then paid to transfer so that government officials in the Mohawk Tribe do an administrative procedure in benefit of Allergan's business?

Thats nice, so hit Allergan with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

maxerickson• 9 years ago

A couple recent discussions:

https://hn.algolia.com/?query=allergan&sort=byDate&prefix&pa...

dang• 9 years ago

Right, plus this one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15206796.

CalChris• 9 years ago

No disrespect to the Times, but this is coverage from PatentlyO:

https://patentlyo.com/patent/2017/09/tribal-immunity-challen...

Stealing the article's thunder:

As the Supreme Court wrote, “without congressional authorization,” the “Indian Nations are exempt from suit.”

You've constructed this property right (patent) outside of the Mohawk Nation and then sold it into the Nation. This would sorta kind've mean that it can be used as a patent to sue but then it can't be challenged. That's just nuts.

greggman• 9 years ago

Does any country have to respect the patent rights of other countries ? I'm sure there are treaties in place but with those it would seem like transferring the patent to a sovereign would just mean there is no US patent

uiri• 9 years ago

The US patent still exists. Ordinarily, you can sue anyone for anything. Even if the patent was transferred to a Canadian, the patent would still exist and it would still be possible to sue its owners in US court. One major exception to this are Indian Nations. US courts have no jurisdiction due to sovereign immunity.

I am not a lawyer.

ezoe• 9 years ago

I don't understand this logic. Because this native american tribe has sovereign immunity for historical reason, the patent they own cannot be patent-reviewed by US government?

Why this works? Can't US(and other coutries) nullified the patent for the their jurisdiction?

"Yeah, that patent is still valid. Only among your tribe though. All the outer world decline it's validity. Good luck with that."

Allergan Gives Drug Patent to Mohawk Tribe, Claims Sovereign Immunity

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