Under terms of the settlement agreement, Teva has granted Watson a fully paid-up license to the US patents covering Seasonale and Watson is expected to continue marketing its generic equivalent product Quasense (levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol tablets USP, 0.15mg/0.03 mg). Watson further admits that the licensed patents are valid and enforceable.
Seasonale is used as contraception to prevent pregnancy. Seasonale contains two female hormones that prevent ovulation (the release of an egg from an ovary). It also causes changes in cervical mucus and uterine lining, making it harder for sperm to reach the uterus and harder for a fertilized egg to attach.
Earlier, on December 13, 2007, Teva had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Watson in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey involving Watson’s Quasense product, which is a generic equivalent of Teva’s Seasonale.