Members of Congress Side-Eye Pharma Company for Patent Shenanigans

Congress is taking drug company Allergan to task for a bizarre legal scheme that involves using a Native American tribe as a shield against patent challenges. On Sept. 8, the pharmaceutical maker announced that it would be transferring disputed patents for Restasis, a dry-eye drug, to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, which governs the American side of a reservation that straddles the U.S.-Canada border. In exchange for the $13.75 million that Allergan is providing, the tribe will invoke its right to sovereign immunity—a U.S. doctrine that says sovereign bodies cannot be subject to civil suits—to reject patent challenges. The tribe will then lease the patents back and rake in $15 million for every year the patents are still viable.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2017/10/05/members_of_congress_question_a_drug_company_s_deal_with_a_native_american.html