Foley Hoag filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) with the U.S. Supreme Court in Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. v. Amarin Pharma, Inc., No. 24-889, urging the Court to affirm the Federal Circuit’s application of the Iqbal/Twombly pleading standard and established inducement law. The brief addresses whether Hikma’s conduct, when considered alongside its “skinny label,” plausibly alleges induced infringement of Amarin’s patented treatment methods.

The brief argues that the case presents a straightforward claim of induced infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b), which must be evaluated under a totality‑of‑the‑circumstances analysis rather than by examining alleged acts in isolation. The brief emphasizes that, at the motion‑to‑dismiss stage, a complaint need only allege facts sufficient to state a plausible—not probable—claim for relief.

In comments to Law360, Barbara Fiacco, co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Department and its Patent & Trade Secrets Litigation practice, who authored the brief, said the association “filed this brief to underscore that this case presents a straightforward inducement of infringement claim under Section 271(b) and that the Court should not create industry‑specific categorical exclusions for generic drug manufacturers that enter the market through the ‘skinny label’ pathway by excluding certain types of evidence from the inducement inquiry.” Fiacco added that “the law of inducement has been and should continue to be applied uniformly across industries without exception.” The full article can be found here.

The Foley Hoag team representing AIPLA includes Barbara A. Fiacco, Urszula Nowak and Spenser C. Angel.