
Allergan Gives Drug Patent to Mohawk Tribe, Claims Sovereign Immunity - gingerbread-man
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/health/allergan-patent-tribe.html?module=WatchingPortal&region=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=thumb_square&state=standard&contentPlacement=11&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2017%2F09%2F08%2Fhealth%2Fallergan-patent-tribe.html&eventName=Watching-article-click&_r=0
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maxerickson
A couple recent discussions:

[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=allergan&sort=byDate&prefix&pa...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=allergan&sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=pastWeek&type=story)

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dang
Right, plus this one:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15206796](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15206796).

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ringaroundthetx
So Allergan paid for the patent, and then paid to transfer so that government
officials in the Mohawk Tribe do an administrative procedure in benefit of
Allergan's business?

Thats nice, so hit Allergan with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

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CalChris
No disrespect to the Times, but this is coverage from PatentlyO:

[https://patentlyo.com/patent/2017/09/tribal-immunity-
challen...](https://patentlyo.com/patent/2017/09/tribal-immunity-
challenge.html)

Stealing the article's thunder:

> _As the Supreme Court wrote, “without congressional authorization,” the
> “Indian Nations are exempt from suit.”_

You've constructed this property right (patent) outside of the Mohawk Nation
and then sold it into the Nation. This would sorta kind've mean that it can be
used as a patent to sue but then it can't be challenged. That's just nuts.

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ezoe
I don't understand this logic. Because this native american tribe has
sovereign immunity for historical reason, the patent they own cannot be
patent-reviewed by US government?

Why this works? Can't US(and other coutries) nullified the patent for the
their jurisdiction?

"Yeah, that patent is still valid. Only among your tribe though. All the outer
world decline it's validity. Good luck with that."

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greggman
Does any country have to respect the patent rights of other countries ? I'm
sure there are treaties in place but with those it would seem like
transferring the patent to a sovereign would just mean there is no US patent

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uiri
The US patent still exists. Ordinarily, you can sue anyone for anything. Even
if the patent was transferred to a Canadian, the patent would still exist and
it would still be possible to sue its owners in US court. One major exception
to this are Indian Nations. US courts have no jurisdiction due to sovereign
immunity.

I am not a lawyer.

