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The life-sciences press is peppered with headlines such as 'Court holds that Ranbaxy did not infringe GSK patent' and 'Court awards Applied Medical Resources Corp., $43.5 million because Tyco Corporation had infringed Applied's patent'. But what amounts to an infringement? How does the court decide whether Ranbaxy can make its generic version of the antibiotic Ceftin or that Tyco has to pay such a large sum?
