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Techdirt wrote about "pay for delay" deals, in which a large pharmaceutical company essentially buys generic so that the former may continue to enjoy monopoly prices long after their patents have expired, things didn 't look too good. Already in 2010, the Second Circuit refused to hear a case on the issue after a lawsuit arguing reject these agreements were anticompetitive. But now, things are very different, not just in the United States.

The Supreme Court examined the practice in the case of the Federal Trade Commission v. Actavis, Inc. In this case, a long post and useful overview Blog Scot says:

The fundamental question before the Court, despite the complexity of the law, we can simply say no manufacturer's mark, against a potential generic competitor, acting illegally if it's worth the money - sometimes considerable sum - the generic in a case that extended for a period of several years the commercialization of alternative version. Commonly, this practice is known as "pay for delay." It was also called "reverse payment agreement." The FTC objected to these agreements for years under antitrust law, but until the Obama administration, the Department of Justice does not share its opposition but now it's done.

One analyst suggested that the legality of these agreements is the "unsolved problem in the most important competition policy today."

The rest of the message Scotus Blog examines the merits of the case and the arguments presented by both parties in their submissions to the Court, in every detail. Here's an important point at the end of its analysis on how the case relates to the growing concern about how the patent system is running:

If there is a material weakness in the industrial side of this case is that this Court has doubts about the strength of a patent system, perhaps too often grant monopolies. The writings of the company's settlement of brand partners and between generic drugs very heavily on the judges who have a deep desire to protect proprietary exclusion efforts, and may simply not exist.

problems in the pharmaceutical industry is not limited to the United States. The European Commission is considering the negative impact that this "pay for delay" deals can be had on Dutch consumers

The European Commission informed the research-based pharmaceutical companies of Johnson & Johnson (J & J, USA) and Novartis (Switzerland) for their objections to an agreement between their respective Dutch subsidiaries of fentanyl, a powerful analgesic. The Commission considers that the preliminary agreement delayed the market entry of cheaper Netherlands generic drugs in violation of EU antitrust rules

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Janssen-Cilag, a subsidiary of J & J provides analgesic fentanyl Netherlands, concluded the so-called "co-promotion agreement" with rival Novartis subsidiary Sandoz generic nearest in July 2005. At that time, there was no regulatory barriers to develop and market generic versions of Fentanyl patches and therefore Sandoz to enter the Dutch market. Monthly payments under agreement Sandoz Janssen-Cilag as long as any generic product launched on the Dutch market. Accordingly, Sandoz failed to enter the market with generic fentanyl patches for the term of the agreement from July 2005 to December 2006. This may have delayed the entry of cheaper generic drugs for seventeen months and kept the price of fentanyl Netherlands artificially high.
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