IP(DC) Podcast: Patent Battles – New Patent Initiatives on the Hill & Notable CAFC/SCOTUS Decisions
Podcast: Patentable Subject Matter in 2019
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
This Federal Circuit opinion analyzes the “very demanding standard” of judicial correction of erroneous wording of a patent claim. Background - Canatex Completion Solutions owns U.S. Patent No. 10,794,122. This patent...more
In an Inter Partes Review (IPR), Petitioners have long been told to avoid relying on prior art the examiner already “considered,” for fear of triggering a discretionary denial under 35 U.S.C. § 325(d)....more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Patent Trial & Appeal Board’s decision finding claims directed to cladribine regimens for treating multiple sclerosis unpatentable as obvious....more
In a recent patent infringement case, Judge J. Paul Oetken (S.D.N.Y.) awarded attorneys’ fees under the Patent Act because the case was “exceptional,” but denied fees under 28 U.S.C. § 1927 and the court’s inherent authority...more
On October 17, 2025, almost one month after being sworn in as the Director of the USPTO, John Squires returned institution authority for proceedings under the America Invents Act (“AIA”) to himself. Previous Directors had...more
In the first proposed rulemaking issued under Director Squires, the USPTO proposes to modify the rules of practice relating to discretionary denials to institute Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings. The proposed rules...more
Reissue applications represent a very small fraction of the total number of applications filed at the USPTO each year. Indeed, at the midpoint of 2025, over 1.2 million utility applications have been filed, with less than 300...more
The PTAB denied institution of a second inter partes review (“IPR”) petition filed by Aylo Freesites (“Petitioner”) after having previously instituted inter partes review of Petitioner’s first petition related to the same...more
On December 4, 2023, the Federal Court issued its public judgment and reasons in two patent infringement actions pursuant to s. 6(1) of the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations (“Regulations”) and two patent...more
In re: John L. Couvaras, Appeal No. 2022-1489 (Fed. Cir. June 14, 2023) In our Case of the Week, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeals Board decision that a patent application’s...more
As part of the recovery from the global COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit took steps to return to normal operations. It began requiring live oral arguments in August 2022 and, by November,...more
On March 8, 2021, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed Apotex’s claims against Eli Lilly (Lilly) under the Statute of Monopolies, Trademarks Act, and common law conspiracy relating to Canadian Patent No. 2,041,113...more
On July 28, 2021, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) dismissed Seedling’s appeal from the Federal Court decision of Justice Grammond (2020 FC 1, previously reported), which concluded that certain claims of Seedlings' LifeCard...more
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Minerva Surgical v. Hologic, thereby agreeing to resolve a long-running debate on patent law’s doctrine of assignor estoppel. Minerva Surgical has asked the Court to...more
Last spring in Hologic, Inc. v. Minerva Surgical, Inc., the Federal Circuit ruled that the doctrine of assignor estoppel does not prevent an assignor from lodging a validity challenge of either patent in an IPR proceeding. In...more
On May 22, 2020, the Federal Court held that an action under the amended Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations (PMNOC Regulations) relating to saxagliptin (ONGLYZA) would not be rendered moot by the relevant...more
SCC Update. On October 23, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed Apotex’s motion to amend the Supreme Court of Canada’s judgment in AstraZeneca Canada Inc v Apotex Inc, 2017 SCC 36 (reported here, relating to...more
Gilead prevails in SOVALDI appeal - The Federal Court of Appeal recently affirmed a trial decision relating to two competing patents over Gilead’s SOVALDI (sofosbuvir). In the trial decision, as previously reported, the...more
The Supreme Court of Canada has issued two IP decisions in the span of three days—both of which spell victory for IP rights-holders. One case confirms the availability of a novel form of worldwide injunction where a non-party...more
In SCA v. First Quality Baby Products, the Supreme Court holds that laches should not be available as a defense in patent cases, refusing to concur with the Circuit’s en banc holding that the Patent Act’s 6-year limitation on...more
PTAB Update on Inter Partes Review - On August 19, 2015, the Director of the USPTO released a blog post reporting on the state of post-grant review proceedings created by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act of 2011 and...more
Laches is an equitable defense based on a plaintiff’s unreasonable delay in pursuing a claim. In 2014, the Supreme Court effectively eliminated the laches defense in copyright cases, ruling that the copyright statute allows...more
On May 26, 2015, the Supreme Court held in Commil USA, LLC v. Cisco Sys, Inc. that a defendant’s good-faith belief in the invalidity of the patent-in-suit is not a defense to induced infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b)....more