Patent Law Weblog
recent posts
- REGENEXBIO Inc. v. Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2026)
- Apple v. Squires: USPTO Director Has Unlimited Discretion on IPR Institution
- The Ghost in the Machine: Why GenAI Can Be Both a Brilliant Researcher and a Terrible Advocate
- Bayer Files Suit Against Trio of COVID-19 Vaccine Makers
- Allen v. Cooper (4th Cir. 2026)
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Category: Federal Circuit
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By Kevin E. Noonan — The Federal Circuit recently applied well-established principles of obviousness in affirming the Patent Trial and Appeals Board's invalidation of several patents related to antifungal formulations in Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Flatwing Pharmaceuticals, LLC. The subject matter of the claimed invention was a topical formulation of 1,3-dihydro-5-fluoro-1-hydroxy-2,1-benzoxaborole (known as tavaborole): and…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — One of the banes of any practicing patent attorney's professional existence is counseling clients on licensing agreements where the parties attempt to avoid setting forth definitive terms on contract provisions regarding circumstances expected to arise in future. This is an understandable inclination, because such terms are likely to depend on…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — The Federal Circuit recently vacated a District Court decision by Federal Circuit Judge Dyk, sitting by designation, based on erroneous claim construction in Baxalta Inc. v. Genentech, Inc. The case arose over Genentech's Hemlibra® (emicizumb-kxwh) product, which Baxalta alleged infringed its U.S. Patent No. 7,033,590. Baxalta asserted claims 1, 4,…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — The Federal Circuit's inchoate attempts to fashion a consistent, rational application of the Supreme Court's recent subject matter eligibility jurisprudence, while understandably Herculean in view of the difficulties inherent in that precedent, raises questions regarding the value of having a "specialized" Circuit Court for the purpose of harmonizing U.S. patent…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — ANDA litigation, pursuant to the Hatch-Waxman Act, has become more complicated over the years since enactment of the statute in 1984, with more patents being asserted and more parties participating over the opportunity to market a generic version of a branded, innovator drug. Particularly under circumstances where there are several…
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Common Sense Prevails By Joseph Herndon — B/E Aerospace, Inc. appealed a final written decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that found certain claims of B/E's aircraft lavatory-related patents obvious. B/E contended that the Board's decision is erroneous because the Board incorporated a claim limitation that is not present in the prior…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — The Federal Circuit has spent the past few years applying the Supreme Court's most recent precedent, Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc., on the indefiniteness standards in the patent statute. 35 U.S.C. § 112(b). The Federal Circuit's latest decision, in IBSA Institut Biochimique, S.A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., affirmed…
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Federal Circuit (Again) Hands Down Revised Opinion in Response to Petition for Rehearing By Kevin E. Noonan — Recently the Federal Circuit has begun a practice of withdrawing an original opinion and handing down a substitute opinion in response to a petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc (see "IIllumina, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc.…
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Federal Circuit Hands Down Modified Opinion in Illumina, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. By Kevin E. Noonan — Earlier this year, the Federal Circuit (somewhat surprisingly) found claims of two Sequenom patents directed to methods for detecting fetal DNA in maternal blood to satisfy the subject matter eligibility requirements of Section 101 (see "Illumina, Inc.…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — Last week, the Federal Circuit took the opportunity presented in an appeal from judgment on the pleadings in XY, LLC v. Trans Ova Genetics, LC to distinguish claims directed toward a patent-eligible invention from invalidation under the Supreme Court's imperfectly applied Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int'l (2014) test. The…
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