Late last week in Natera, Inc. v. NeoGenomics Laboratories, Inc. (24-1324), the Federal Circuit affirmed a preliminary injunction ruling from the lower court that mostly prohibits NeoGenomics from selling its oncology test marketed as RaDaR®. In doing so, the appellate panel confirms that the district court need not conduct claim
Patent
Spring Has Sprung Obviousness Trends from the Federal Circuit
There have been only a few precedential decisions from the Federal Circuit related to obviousness since spring sprung. While these decisions have produced mixed results for the lower courts, clinical study protocols have held up to appellate scrutiny both in the context of motivation to combine and reasonable expectation of success.
Reversed and Remanded to
…Make Sure You Behave and Keep Those Hands Clean: How Deceit and Bad Table Manners Can Bite
Last week in Luv n’ Care, Ltd. v. Laurain, the Federal Circuit put the lower court in time out and probably made Eazy-PZ, LLC (EZPZ) cry just a little bit harder. In this precedential decision involving U.S. Patent No. 9.462,903, the appellate panel vacated a Western District of Louisiana judgment of no inequitable…
A Port in the Infringement Storm: When 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(1)’s Safe Harbor Applies
Earlier this week, the Federal Circuit granted Meril Life Sciences safe passage out of the infringement storm — otherwise known as Edwards Lifesciences — continuing to chase it (at least for now). More specifically, a divided panel of the Federal Circuit issued an opinion affirming the Northern District of California’s grant of summary judgment to…
Some Touch Up Needed: The Federal Circuit Partially Confirms the PTAB’s View of Analogous Art
In Corephotonics, Ltd. v. Apple Inc., the Federal Circuit partially signed off on Apple’s win before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) invalidating a number of patents owned by Corephotonics relating to dual-aperture cameras and methods of using the images from both lenses when zooming while capturing video to prevent “jumping” (U.S. Patent…
More Antibody Claims Falling Under Post-Amgen Scrutiny
With only two precedential IP decisions coming down from the Federal Circuit in the second half of September, pickings were a little slim for blogging. That said, the opinion in Baxalta v. Genentech (2022-1461) — drafted by Chief Judge Kimberly Moore and joined by Judges Raymond Clevenger and Raymond Chen — is an…
One Europe, One Patent? New European Unitary Patent Comes into Effect June 1
In June 2023, the European Union (EU) will introduce the European Unitary Patent. At the outset, the European Unitary Patent will be enforceable in the 17 States that have ratified the agreement between the EU and the EPO: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia…
Supreme Court Delivers the Final Blow to Amgen
The questions from the high court during oral argument at the end of March 2023 were fairly telling of the 9-0 ruling that came down yesterday in Amgen, Inc. v. Sanofi (No. 21-757). In fact, it did not come as much of a surprise when the Supreme Court left intact the lower courts’ invalidity ruling…
Bacon and a Heavy Burden: Significant Contribution Required To Be a Joint Inventor
Efforts by HIP, Inc. to have David Howard added as an inventor to Hormel’s U.S. Patent No. 9,980,498 (Bacon Patent) were recently scorched by the Federal Circuit. More specifically, in HIP, Inc. v. Hormel Foods Corporation (22-1696), a unanimous panel reversed the District of Delaware’s finding that Howard was a joint inventor of the…
Federal Circuit Vaporizes Phillip Morris’s Obviousness Challenge in “a Close One”
In a recent precedential decision, the Federal Circuit shot down arguments from appellants Phillip Morris Products S.A., Phillip Morris USA, Inc. and Altria Client Services LLC (Phillip Morris) that challenged the ban on its imported electronic cigarettes handed down from the International Trade Commission (ITC).
The fight between the tobacco competitors started around this…