The US Supreme Court Issues First Ruling on Antitrust Legality of Reverse-Payment Drug Patent Settlements (Actavis)

This short article summarizes FTC v. Actavis, the first case in which the Supreme Court analyzed the antitrust legality of agreements by which brand-name drug companies pay generics to settle patent litigation and delay entering the market. It concludes that the ruling must be counted as a win for the FTC since the most likely alternative analysis — the "scope of the patent" test applied by the dissent and several appellate courts — would have meant "game over" for challenges to these concerning agreements