Allergan Use of Tribe’s Sovereignty Called Risk to Patent System

• Critics say drugmaker’s ‘rent a tribe’ ploy games the system • Tech companies say case may doom patent-challenge process

Technology companies, banks and insurers say that allowing drugmaker Allergan Plc to to use an American Indian tribe’s sovereign immunity to avoid competition from generics could undercut a system to weed out bad patents.

Industry groups filed arguments with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington ahead of oral arguments Monday. The court is considering whether patents for the company’s blockbuster dry-eye drug Restasis can still be challenged despite being transferred to a tribe that claims sovereign immunity. ...