21.   The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act was intended to foster competition between brand and generic companies, and it has.

22.   The lawsuit alleges that Bristol-Myers misused the patents to keep generic companies from selling a lower-priced version of the drug.

23.   Under federal law, the first generic company to receive approval to sell a drug can do so exclusively for the first six months after a patent expires.

24.   Under the agreements, the brand-name company pays the generic company not to sell the lower-cost drug.

25.   Generic companies had hoped to market the same medication at half the price.

26.   Government officials fear that some brand-name companies are paying off generic companies after suing them for patent infringement.

27.   It would also allow generic companies to approach judges directly to see if their formulations infringe on existing patents.

28.   Most such cases are settled with an agreement that lets the generic company market its drug as long as it pays a royalty to the brand-name firm.