Among the most established standards in patent law is that obviousness requires a motivation to combine the prior art with “a reasonable expectation of success.” The Federal Circuit alone has employed the “reasonable...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court decision finding that two patents covering enantiomerically pure compositions of the psoriasis drug Otezla® (apremilast) were valid and one patent...more
On November 4, in University of Strathclyde v. Clear-Vu Lighting, evidence from outside the asserted references tipped the Federal Circuit toward finding a lack of reasonable expectation of success. The Federal Circuit...more
In OSI Pharmaceuticals LLC v. Apotex, Inc., the Federal Circuit reversed the PTAB’s determination that a Tarceva® patent was invalid as obvious because the decision was not supported by a reasonable expectation of success....more
In a precedential opinion on October 4, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in OSI Pharmaceuticals v. Apotex, No. 2018-1925, reversed the Board’s Final Written Decision in an inter partes review...more
OSI PHARMACEUTICALS, LLC v. APOTEX INC - Before Stoll, Newman, and Taranto. Appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Summary: A pharmaceutical company’s statement touting the completion of Phase I safety trials...more
Addressing the obviousness analysis for method of treatment claims, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s finding of non-obviousness but rejected part of its reasoning that applied lead...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court non-obviousness decision, finding that a prior art reference that articulates a goal without explaining how that goal is achieved does not provide a...more
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. v. ELM 3DS INNOVATIONS, LLC - Before Moore, Reyna, and Chen. Appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Summary: If the technology is complex, a party may be required to provide more...more
The Situation: In a Hatch-Waxman litigation, a district court determined that the claims covering a method of using the drug everolimus to treat kidney cancers were not obvious. The court found a motivation to "pursue"...more
ENDO PHARM, INC., v. ACTAVIS LLC - Before Wallach, Clevenger, and Stoll. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Delaware....more
Under the Mayo/Alice test for patent eligibility, answering the questions of whether any particular claim is “directed to” a “judicial exception” without “significantly more” remains in many ways a substantial and...more
The Federal Circuit decision in Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. v. Roxane Laboratories, Inc. addressed several aspects of obviousness doctrine. We previously wrote about the impact of a blocking patent on consideration of objective...more
Addressing the issues of reasonable expectation of success and induced infringement of claims directed to a method of treatment in a particular patient population based on the results of a clinical trial, the US Court of...more