On March 6, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”) issued a precedential decision in ImmunoGen, Inc. v. Stewart, in which the court clarified its standards for determining...more
Earlier this month, the Federal Circuit decided a subject matter eligibility case closely watched in the pharmaceutical industry. The case involved composition-of-matter claims reciting measured results. Reversing the...more
On October 1, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that it is terminating its After Final Consideration Pilot Program 2.0 (AFCP 2.0), which is set to expire on December 14, 2024. The...more
On August 13, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a welcomed decision to patentees in Allergan USA, Inc. v. MSN Laboratories Private Ltd., No. 24-1061 (Fed. Cir. 2024) clarifying the scope of...more
On June 28, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a Notice requesting public comments on the current state of the common law experimental use exception to patent infringement and whether Congress...more
On May 10, 2024, the USPTO issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes major changes to terminal disclaimer practice that could greatly affect both patent prosecution and patent litigation strategies.
Specifically,...more
On March 18, 2024, the USPTO issued a memorandum to its Examiners reminding them of the resources and proper analysis for interpreting limitations under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), which are commonly referred to as...more
Standards for patenting antibodies have substantially tightened over the last few years restricting scope of antibody claims—or, in some cases, undermining the validity of granted patents. Most recently, Singapore updated...more
On October 10, 2023, the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) issued a groundbreaking decision that reflects a major change in how formal priority is assessed at the EPO during examination and in...more
In a “first to file” patent system as exists in the United States and in most countries throughout the world, timing of when to file a patent application is critically important but must be balanced by patentability...more
Life sciences patent applications often contain DNA, RNA, and amino acid sequences in the specification, claims, or figures that are required to be provided in the form of a sequence listing. The inclusion of sequences in...more
The ability of life sciences companies to rely on patent protection for diagnostic methods has been eroded over the last ten years, although recent court decisions evidence a rebuilding framework. While courts have...more
On August 26, 2019, Laura Peter, the Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO, posted an update on the USPTO’s efforts to promote and protect AI-technology innovations and...more
USPTO Clarifies Subject Matter Eligibility with New Guidance -
The USPTO rang in the new year by releasing new Examiner Guidance that could potentially benefit patent applicants who have previously encountered difficulty...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) issued a Notice today extending the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program (Pilot Program), also known as “Patents 4 Patients.” The Pilot Program, which accelerates the...more