Drug company won't appeal gay rights ruling to top U.S. court

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - AbbVie Inc willnot seek U.S. Supreme Court review of a ruling in a lawsuitbrought against the company that extended landmarkconstitutional protections for gays and lesbians, a companyspokesman said on Tuesday.

The issue arose when a gay man was excluded from juryservice at a trial in a lawsuit brought by GlaxoSmithKline against AbbVie over HIV pricing. The San Francisco-based9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January had found that theman was improperly excluded because of his sexual orientation.

The court's January opinion heightened constitutionalprotections judges in several Western states must now apply whenevaluating laws that curtail gay rights. (Reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Leslie Adler)