GLAXO INC. and GLAXO GROUP LIMITED, Plaintiffs, v. NOVOPHARM LIMITED, and GRANUTEC INC., Defendants-Counterclaim Plaintiffs, v. GLAXO INC. and GLAXO GROUP LIMITED, Counterclaim Defendants., 931 F. Supp. 1280

Summary

The patentee manufactured and patented certain drugs that contained the active ingredient ranitidine hydrochloride. The patentee instituted an action against the alleged infringer for patent infringement and for violation of the North Carolina's Trade Secrets Act, N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 66-152 et seq. On appeal the court found that the burden rested upon the patentee to prove that an accurate scientific quantification method showed the presence of the claimed product in levels within that method's limit of detection and that the patentee had failed to establish that the existence of its product in the infringer's product. Ultimately, the court found that the infringer had established that its product would not contain the patentee's product by the standard of clear and convincing evidence. The court also found that it was clear that the patentee never possessed any trade secrets relating to the production of product in question and never devised a specific process for the stable continuous...