On November 30, 2015, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Allergan plc (formerly Actavis plc and Forest Laboratories, LLC) agreed to settle AG Schneiderman's allegations that Allergan engaged in anticompetitive product hopping by withdrawing Alzheimer's drug Namenda IR from the market in favor of a new drug, Namenda XR, before generic versions of Namenda IR became available (State of New York v. Actavis plc, No. 14-cv-7473-RWS (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 30, 2015)). The settlement dismisses the action with prejudice and requires each party to bear their own costs related to the lawsuit, with Allergan reimbursing the AG for a portion of its investigation and prosecution costs in the amount of $171,946.

AG Schneiderman filed the suit in September 2014 requesting an injunction requiring Allergan to keep Namenda IR on the market until the generic version of Namenda IR became available. The US District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the injunction in December 2014 and the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed in May 2015 (see Legal Update, Second Circuit Affirms Preliminary Injunction in Namenda Product Hopping Case). Generic versions of Namenda IR launched in July and October 2015, and the injunction expired on August 10, 2015.

On November 4, 2015, Allergan filed a writ for certiorari to the US Supreme Court asking the Court to rule on whether a patent owner violates antitrust laws by withdrawing one patented product from the market and replacing it with another. The settlement dismissed the cert petition with prejudice.