Ever since the Supreme Court's decision in Dickerson v. Zurko, decisions from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (whether in ex parte examination or any of the many varieties of actions before the Patent Trial and Appeal...more
Any party who has ever come before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) quickly realizes the extent to which the Board enforces procedural niceties. This tendency sometimes leads to...more
Since the present reissue statute was enacted as part of the 1952 Patent Act, the Patent Office has granted almost eight million utility patents and less than twenty-five thousand reissue patents. Nevertheless, reissue...more
The Federal Circuit earlier this week affirmed a District Court's decision invalidating almost all of the claims asserted against an ANDA filer, in HZNP Medicines LLC v. Actavis Laboratories UT, Inc. Nevertheless, because a...more
One person's attempt at judicial economy can be another person's impermissible shortcut, and when it arises in the context of a summary judgment motion of noninfringement, it can amount to legal (or at least procedural) error...more
Last week, the Federal Circuit overturned an obviousness determination in an inter partes review by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in OSI Pharmaceuticals LLC v. Apotex Inc. The Court also reaffirmed its holdings in...more
Recently, Seth Waxman and his team filed a wonderful certiorari petition in the Athena Diagnostics v. Mayo Collaborative Serv. case, which we will discuss in a forthcoming post. Using quotations from the various combinations...more
In a brief Order issued September 25, 2019, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board authorized the Junior Party (the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Vienna; and Emmanuelle...more
Friday, September, 20, 2019, the Broad Institute (and its partners as Senior Party, Harvard University and MIT) filed its opposition to an authorized motion for protective order by the Junior Party (the University of...more
A question of sovereign immunity, which has come before the Federal Circuit in many guises of late (Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Regents of the University of Minnesota v. LSI Corp.), arose again in...more
Not unexpectedly, the State of Minnesota, as sovereign of the Regents of the University of Minnesota, filed on Thursday its petition to Supreme Court for certiorari. The State contends that the Federal Circuit erred in...more
In their Order of August 26th, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board authorized the University of California/Berkeley, University of Vienna, and Emmanuelle Charpentier, Junior Party (abbreviated "CVC") to file a miscellaneous...more
It would be understandable to have the impression that Congress is considering patent eligibility reform as the major (or even sole) patent-related legislation this session....more
Late last month, the Federal Circuit affirmed a District Court grant of a preliminary injunction based on claim construction involving the effect of two "wherein" clauses in Allergan Sales, LLC v. Sandoz, Inc....more
The late Gilda Radner's character, Emily Latella, would consistently misapprehend something ("violins on television," "saving Soviet jewelry"), give a guest editorial on Weekend Update, and when corrected would say "Never...more
Albert Einstein once famously (albeit perhaps apocryphally) said that "[c]ompound interest is the most powerful force in the universe." Not to contradict the creator of 20th Century physics, but it is just as likely that the...more
On Monday, August 26, 2019, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued an Order deciding which of the parties' (University of California/Berkeley, the University of Vienna, and Emmanuelle Charpentier, Junior Party,...more
The Federal Circuit applied the constitutional principle under Article III that there must be a case or controversy for a federal court to enter judgment (in this case, of invalidity) in ANDA litigation that can be vitiated...more
On Tuesday, August 20, 2019, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted U.S. Patent No. 10,385,360 to the University of California/Berkeley, directed to an aspect of its CRISPR technology (where CRISPR is an acronym for...more
Last week, the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) finding claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,064,197 to be invalid for anticipation or obviousness, in Enzo Life Sciences, Inc. v. Becton,...more
Last week, the Federal Circuit reversed findings of non-obviousness and affirmed (over Chief Judge Prost's dissent) a finding that claims asserted in ANDA litigation were not invalid for failure to satisfy the written...more
The Federal Circuit again reviewed a determination of infringement under the doctrine of equivalents, in this instance by the International Trade Commission (ITC), again finding that one of the Supreme Court's exceptions to...more
In its decision in a consolidated appeal, Eli Lilly & Co. v. Hospira, Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. v. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Ltd., the Federal Circuit had the occasion to apply the Supreme Court's distinction regarding the...more
The avocado, having gained popularity (at least in the U.S.) as a convenient (and delicious) vehicle for consuming otherwise not particularly healthful corn chips, has more recently been hailed as a "superfood" when consumed...more
The Federal Circuit affirmed a determination by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that two patents owned by Celgene Corp. were invalid in Celgene Corp. v. Peter decided last week. In rendering its decision, the Court...more