Julia Johnson
Partner
Julia is first and foremost a trial lawyer, participating in nearly a dozen trials in her more than 15-year legal career, conducting direct and/or cross-examinations in each trial. With a degree in microbiology, Julia excels at working with expert witnesses, has drafted countless expert reports and personally taken and defended numerous expert depositions, in addition to managing all aspects of the pretrial, trial, and post-trial phases of litigation.
Key Matters
Julia participated in a bench trial in the District of New Jersey involving patents for Enbrel®, a biologic medicine. The trial was one of the first trials involving a biosimilar medicine to occur pursuant to the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA).
Julia also participated in the trial and appeal of a case involving patents for the drug Aloxi®, which led to the United States Supreme Court’s first opportunity to consider the revised standards for patentability under the 2011 America Invents Act. The Federal Circuit reversed the district court and found that the claimed invention was invalid under the “on sale bar.” The Supreme Court subsequently upheld the Federal Circuit’s decision, finding that an invention is “on sale” for purposes of the statute if it is sold or offered for sale, and that it does not matter whether the sales are public or make the invention “available to the public” more broadly.
Julia also was part of a significant trial victory for a major pharmaceutical company against a branded pharmaceutical company in which the court invalidated the patent covering the active ingredient molecule in the Hepatitis B treatment, Baraclude® (entecavir). The decision was especially important because it invalidated as “obvious” a patent on a new chemical compound. The case received extensive press coverage, including articles in Forbes, Bloomberg, Law360, InsideCounsel, and countless IP, FDA, and patent law-related blogs. The district court ruling was affirmed on appeal by the Federal Circuit, and BMS’s motion for an en banc rehearing was denied.
Her additional patent trial experience includes cases involving patents relating to the drugs Amrix®, Multaq®, Nasacort AQ®, Seroquel XR®, and Temodar®. Her additional representations span a variety of drug products including Angiomax®, Belbuca®, Belvig®, Clolar®, Dexilant®, Firazyr®, Flector®, Gralise®, Invanz®, and Istodax®. Julia also has experience in the development of strategic plans to successfully bring generic drugs and biosimilar products to market.