PHILADELPHIA – Avid Radiopharmaceuticals has filed a lawsuit against the Alzheimer's Institute of America (AIA) and its chairman and founder over claims the organization's 2010 lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company over alleged patent infringement was malicious prosecution.
According to the Aug. 12 filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the plaintiff Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc. filed the complaint against defendants AIA of America Inc. and Ronald Sexton alleging malicious prosecution.
"AIA and Sexton's actions in prosecuting the Avid Lawsuit were malicious, willful, wanton and of a level that warrants the imposition of punitive damages under Pennsylvania law," Avid's complaint states.
The complaint states in 2010, a lawsuit filed by the AIA alleged Avid infringed on AIA's patents related to "research technologies stemming from the discovery of the 'Swedish mutation'" believed to be associated with early-onset familiar Alzheimer's disease. The court found AIA was not the owner of the patent rights, which was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, according to the suit.
"AIA and Sexton's conduct in prosecuting the Avid lawsuit constituted trickery and deceit, as the Avid court so held, and therefore their conduct warrants the imposition of punitive damages," the lawsuit states. "AIA and Sexton's conduct in prosecuting the Avid lawsuit constituted a fraud on Avid and the Avid court, in that AIA and Sexton intentionally misrepresented and concealed the fact that AIA did not actually have standing to pursue the Avid Lawsuit, as the Avid court so held ..."
Avid seeks attorneys' fees, expenses and court costs. The attorney for Avid is Justin Edelson of Polsinelli PC in Wilmington, Delaware.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case number 2:19-cv-03632