By Andrew Longstreth
NEW YORK, Feb 5 (Reuters) - J. Thomas Rosch, until last year
a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, is returning to
his old employer, Latham & Watkins, where he will serve as of
counsel in the firm's Washington and San Francisco offices.
A Republican, Rosch served as a commissioner from 2006 to
2012.
During his tenure, Rosch supported the agency's efforts to
challenge so-called "pay for delay" deals in which brand-name
drug companies resolve patent litigation by agreeing to pay
generic competitors to keep their cheaper products off the
market. The issue is expected to come to a head at the U.S.
Supreme Court, which on March 25 is scheduled to hear an appeal
by the FTC over a deal to delay market entry of generic versions
of AndroGel, which treats underproduction of testosterone.
Rosch, 73, was also at the FTC during its investigation into
Google Inc, which ended in January with the conclusion that the
Internet company had not manipulated Web search results.
During an interview, Rosch said one of his goals during his
time at the FTC was to train staff to win antitrust cases.
"History is going to judge whether I succeeded," Rosch said.
Before Rosch was confirmed to the FTC, he was a partner at
Latham from 1994 to 2005. While at the firm, he was part of the
trial team that successfully defended Oracle Corp from the U.S.
Justice Department's challenge of the software maker's
acquisition of rival PeopleSoft Inc.
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