UFCW Local 1500 Welfare Fund, et al. v. AbbieVie Inc., et al.

Brief of the Federal Trade Commission supporting neither side and taking no position on the merits of the complaint. The brief addresses two legal errors committed by the district court in applying FTC v. Actavis, Inc., 570 U.S. 136 (2013). First, the court seemingly ruled that because the settlements merely allowed “early” competition before AbbVie’s patents expired, they did not contain “Actavis-like” reverse payments and were procompetitive as a matter of law. Second, the court erred to the extent it based dismissal on the public policy favoring settlement.