Patent law in Europe: What pharmaceutical companies need to know
On October 24, 2025, the Local Division Paris of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) issued its decision in Raccords et Plastiques Nicoll v. First Plast, dismissing claims for literal infringement and infringement by equivalence...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a mixed ruling in a dispute over patents covering child car seat technology, explaining that infringement under the doctrine of equivalents requires an equivalent for...more
This week’s Case of the Week includes a potpourri of issues following a jury trial and issuance of a permanent injunction against Evenflo based on patents directed to child car seats....more
WONDERLAND SWITZERLAND AG v. EVENFLO COMPANY, INC. [OPINION] (2023-2043, 2023-2233, 2023-2326, 12/17/2025) (Moore, Prost, Reyna) - Moore, J. The Court reversed the district court’s judgment of infringement of the asserted...more
In Smartrend Manufacturing Group (SMG), Inc. v. Opti-Luxx Inc., the Federal Circuit vacated a finding of design patent infringement due to an erroneous claim construction. The panel also reversed the district court’s denial...more
Our Patent Case Summaries provide a weekly summary of the precedential patent-related opinions issued by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the opinions designated precedential or informative by the Patent Trial...more
In Re MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, INC. [ORDER] (2025-134, 11/06/2025) (Dyk, Linn, Cunningham) Linn, J. The Court denied Motorola Solutions, Inc.’s petition for a writ of mandamus challenging the Acting Director’s decision to...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has set aside both judgments entered against Opti-Luxx, Inc. in a high-stakes pair of patent infringement cases involving illuminated school bus signs....more
Patentees face many challenges in trying to prove literal infringement, particularly when dealing with competitors who make trivial modifications or superficial changes to the patented invention. In such situations, the...more
When a product or process does not literally infringe a patent’s claim language, the doctrine of equivalents (DOE) holds that a competitor’s product or process may still infringe if it is substantially equivalent to the...more
The Federal Circuit reversed a district court’s denial of judgment as a matter of law on non-infringement, thereby setting aside a $106 million jury verdict, after holding that prosecution history estoppel barred the patentee...more
LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA HOLDINGS v. QIAGEN SCIENCES LLC - Before Lourie, Dyk, and Cunningham. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. The Federal Circuit reversed the district...more
In this edition of The Precedent, we outline the Federal Circuit's decision in Colibri Heart Valve LLC v. Medtronic CoreValve, LLC. Overview - This case addresses prosecution history estoppel and the doctrine of equivalence....more
Precedential and Key Federal Circuit Opinions - LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA HOLDINGS v. QIAGEN SCIENCES, LLC [OPINION] (2023-2350, 08/13/2025) (Lourie, Dyk, Cunningham) - Lourie, J. The Court reversed the...more
The Federal Circuit recently issued a significant decision in the ongoing patent litigation between Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (Labcorp) and Qiagen Sciences, LLC, reversing a Delaware district court’s judgment...more
PowerBlock Holdings, Inc. v. iFit, Inc., No. 2024-1177 (Fed. Cir. (D. Utah) Aug. 11, 2025). Opinion by Stoll, joined by Taranto and Scarsi (sitting by designation). PowerBlock sued iFit for infringement of a patent directed...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a district court’s denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) of noninfringement, finding that the jury’s infringement findings were unsupported by...more
The Federal Circuit recently reversed a $4.7M verdict in a patent lawsuit involving two patents concerning next-generation sequencing methods—U.S. Patent Nos. 10,017,810 and 10,450,597. Both patents concern DNA preparation...more
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Qiagen Sciences, LLC, Appeal No. 2023-2350 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 13, 2025) - In our Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit reversed a jury finding of infringement from the District...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently held that cancellation of a claim during prosecution may give rise to prosecution history estoppel, precluding the patentee from recapturing the surrendered subject...more
JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. v. TEVA PHARMACEUTICALS USA, INC. - Before Prost, Reyna, and Taranto. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. The Federal Circuit found that claims reciting a...more
In Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Appeal No. 25-1228, The Federal Circuit found that claims reciting a dosing regimen with unequal loading doses were not obvious and that a presumption of...more
Prosecution history estoppel may narrow the scope of a claim that was unamended during prosecution, if another closely related claim is amended or cancelled during prosecution....more
On July 18, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a $106 million jury verdict in Colibri Heart Valve LLC v. Medtronic CoreValve, LLC, No. 2023-2153, finding that Colibri’s infringement claim under...more