Patent Law Weblog
recent posts
- 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)
- To Require an Inventor ID, or Not to Require an Inventor ID – That Is the Question
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Category: Written Description
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By Kevin E. Noonan — The Federal Circuit will hear oral argument on Thursday for In re Kubin, a case having great significance for biotechnology patenting. At issue is the question of whether the existence in the prior art of a purified protein, combined with "routine" cloning methods, renders obvious a claim to a…
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By Donald Zuhn — Yesterday, we counted down stories #9 to #6 of the top stories covered at Patent Docs in 2008 (see "Top Stories of 2008: #9 to #6"), and on New Year's Day, we listed stories #13 to #10 (see "Top Stories of 2008: #13 to #10"). Today, we conclude our second…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — In the excitement of the Federal Circuit's en banc decision in In re Bielski, handed down last Thursday, it could be understandable that another opinion from the Federal Circuit reviewing a Patent Office determination of unpatentability, In re Alonso, might go unnoticed. Unfortunately, this decision continues the Federal Circuit's…
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By Donald Zuhn — On Monday, the Federal Circuit affirmed a finding on summary judgment by the District Court for the Northern District of California that the asserted claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 4,767,708 and 5,126,270 and certain asserted claims of U.S. Patent No. 6,017,745 are invalid, and that the remainder of the…
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By Donald Zuhn — Last month, we reported on a presentation that Dr. George Elliott, Group 1600 Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, gave at this year’s BIO International Convention (see "Docs at BIO: Representatives from JPO, EPO, SIPO, and USPTO Discuss Recent Developments in Japan, Europe, China, and the U.S."…
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Monsanto Prevails Again against Infringing Farmer By Kevin E. Noonan — In recent weeks, Monsanto has prevailed in patent infringement lawsuits involving its patented seeds from various crop species genetically engineered to be resistant to glyphosate herbicides such as Roundup® (also a Monsanto product). The U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to grant certiorari…
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By Sherri Oslick — In a nonprecedential opinion, the CAFC has affirmed the decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences dismissing the interference at issue after finding the appellant’s claims invalid for failure to comply with the written description requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph. In 1995, Adang and…
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By Donald Zuhn and Paul Berghoff — Few substantive areas of patent law have engendered the warmth of debate that routinely characterizes the written description requirement. The controversy begins with the arguably ambiguous language of Section 112 (does a separate written description requirement even exist?) and is only exacerbated by the factually intensive…
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By Donald Zuhn — In an appeal from a decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, the Federal Circuit affirmed judgment for Appellees (Inglis et al.) in an interference involving vaccines comprising modified viral vectors. In particular, the subject matter of the interference concerned vaccines comprising a poxvirus vector having a…
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By Donald Zuhn — In an appeal from a final rejection of claims 3, 6, 7, 9, and 12 of U.S. Application No. 09/915,694, the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences reversed the rejection of the claims under both the written description and enablement requirements of 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph, and…
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