In a recent case, Eli Lilly and Co. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals International GmbH, the Federal Circuit upheld the validity of Teva’s patents directed to specific methods of treatment using an “effective amount” of certain antibodies. The court agreed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that the claim preambles were limiting, and that obviousness required proof of a reasonable expectation of success in achieving the recited purpose.

In a recent case, Minerva Surgical, Inc. V. Hologic, Inc., the Supreme Court limited the doctrine that prevents an assignor from subsequently challenging the validity of the patent that he or she assigned.

Due to the COVID-19 Emergency, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced extensions (read more here) to the time allowed to file certain patent- and trademark-related documents, as well as payment of certain required fees. These actions are an exercise of temporary authority provided to the USPTO by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) signed by President Trump on March 27, 2020. Read the press release for more information.

{2:55 minutes to read} In a recent case, Yeda Research and Development Co. v. Abbott GmbH and Co., the Federal Circuit invoked the doctrine of inherent disclosure to uphold a priority claim to a German priority application that only partly described a protein claimed in patent 5,344,915. Continue reading

A transitional application is a non-provisional application that was filed on or after March 16, 2013 and claims “foreign priority” or “domestic benefit” of an application filed before March 16, 2013.

The particularity of these transitional applications is that they can be examined either under pre-America Invents Act (AIA) rules, or according to the new AIA regulations. Why is that? Continue reading