Court Dismisses Canopy's Cannabis Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Jazz's GW Pharma

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas dismissed a lawsuit filed by Canadian cannabis giant Canopy Growth CGC against GW Pharmaceuticals on Feb. 25th. The lawsuit was initially filed in 2020, and since then, Britain’s GW Pharma was acquired by the biopharmaceutical company Jazz Pharmaceuticals JAZZ.

In the lawsuit, Canopy accused GW Pharma of unauthorized usage of Canopy’s intellectual property related to a CBD extraction method.

Canopy said it had obtained the intellectual property with its acquisition of Germany’s C3 Cannabinoid Compound Co. in 2019 for more than $250 million. The same day the lawsuit was filed, Canopy was issued the U.S. patent.

According to Canopy, GW Pharma has been relying on the extraction method in question for the production of its flagship epilepsy drug Epidolex.

Canopy said that “GW has been monitoring the ’632 Patent family for over fourteen years.”

The complaint has only one goal, which is to end GW’s “unauthorized use of Canopy’s intellectual property” — not to limit “patient access to Epidiolex,” Canopy said at the time.

The Court Made It Clear 

More than a year after, U.S. District Judge Alan D. Albright ruled in favor of GW Pharma, declaring that Canopy’s patent was not infringed upon, reported Marijuana Business Daily.

While the case was ongoing, GW Pharma offered “confidential technical documents” regarding their manufacturing process, the ruling revealed. Soon after, the court interpreted the meaning of a specific technical term in Canopy’s patent, “CO2 in liquefied form under subcritical pressure and temperature conditions.”

With new documents and the court’s perception of that term, the ruling highlighted, Canopy concluded it “cannot prevail on the issue of infringement.”

Canopy has the right to appeal the court’s interpretation of the patent term in question.

During an investor call on Tuesday, Jazz CEO Bruce Cozadd said that the company is “pleased with where the court came out on the final judgment in the litigation with Canopy. They do have the right to appeal that, but we’re certainly pleased with where we stand.“

A Canopy spokesperson said in a statement to Marijuana Business Daily that, “as this matter is still ongoing and before the courts, Canopy Growth will not provide further comment at this time.”

About Epidiolex 

Epidolex is the first FDA-authorized CBD medicine for treating children with severe forms of epilepsy. The medicine was first approved for treatments of seizures connected to Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome.

In July last year, the FDA also approved Epidolex for managing seizures related to tuberous sclerosis complex.

According to Jazz’s annual financial results released on Tuesday, net sales of Epidiolex were worth $463.6 million in 2020. 

Photo: Courtesy of Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash