In the largest-ever patent ruling in the US, a federal jury in Texas ordered a $1.67 billion payment by Abbott Laboratories to a Johnson & Johnson unit – Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc. - for infringing upon its patent on arthritis treatment, Remicade. The patent is co-owned with New York University.

The jury of the US District Court in Marshall, Texas, deliberated on the contentious issue for nearly five hours on Monday, before passing the ruling in favor of the J&J unit. The jury said that Abbott’s actions were intractable, and that it owes J&J $1.17 billion in lost profits as well as $504 million in royalties.

Abbott, which is allegedly using J&J Remicade invention for manufacturing its best-seller Humira rheumatoid arthritis drug, said that it was “disappointed in this verdict” and intends appealing.

Both J&J and Abbott have been involved in patent rows, largely concerning the competing therapies and a newer product, belonging to a certain category of drugs, called anti-tumor necrosis factor - or anti-TNF – which have annual sales worth billions of dollars.

In response to the court ruling, Kim Taylor - President of Centocor - said that the company was “particularly gratified that the jury recognized our valuable intellectual property, finding our patent both valid and infringed,” and added that the company will maintain the assertion of its patent rights for its rheumatoid arthritis therapies.