Congress’ favorite example of patent abuse bites the dust 

The highest court in the land declined Monday to hear Allergan’s appealof its now-infamous Restasis patent dispute: the one where it sold its patent rights to a Native American tribe in hopes that the move would help protect the IP from a competitor’s challenge.

Now the question becomes: What does that mean for Congress?

Here’s why Washington should be paying attention: Allergan’s gambit had become the example on the tip of every lawmaker’s tongue when talking about the need for patent reform in the drug industry. The move was so maligned that even conservative Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) introduced a bill that would block similar schemes. If there were ever an issue to get both Democrats and Republicans fired up about the wonky issue of drug patent reform, it seemed the Allergan saga was it.

To be sure, there’s no shortage of other issues at the intersection of patent and drug law that lawmakers could tackle, should they desire, but I’ll be curious to see whether Monday’s decision makes the unlikely prospect of patent reform in the 116th Congress even less likely.