And as a result, Bayer won a court ruling that an Abbott Lab patent used in glucose-testing products isn’t enforceable. US District Court Judge William Alsup wrote in a 54-page ruling that Lawrence Pope, who has since left the drugmaker, acted with “specific intent to deceive” the US patent examiner.

“Intent to deceive, not just withhold, was clearly in (Pope’s) mind…,” Alsup wrote. “If concealment of extrinsic information as close to the heart of the prosecution as was involved here is allowed to pass, then we would in effect be issuing licenses to deceive patent examiners in virtually all cases.” (please see page 36).

Three years ago, Abbott sued Bayer over patent infringement, claiming test strips in two Bayer glucose-testing products that are no longer on the market infringed three Abbott patents, Bloomberg News notes. The electrochemical sensors are used by diabetics, the judge wrote.

Abbott maintains the patent was “obtained lawfully,” and is weighing its legal options, an Abbott spokesman tells Bloomberg. “Abbott continues to believe that this patent is valid and enforceable and that the defendants’ products infringe.”

Pope is now an attorney with the Mayer Brown firm in Chicago, but didn’t return a call placed yesterday by Bloomberg seeking comment.