Reversal of summary judgment of non-infringement rests on construction of a single term not found in claims *

USA - April 30 2012
Disagreeing with the district court’s construction of a word appearing in the court’s construction of a claim term, but not present in the patent’s claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed and remanded the district court’s grant of summary judgment of non-infringement.

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ANDA allegation may confer subject-matter jurisdiction, but not state a claim upon which relief can be granted *

USA - February 29 2012
Reviewing a patent infringement action arising under the Hatch-Waxman 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(2) framework, but based on method-of-use claims not covering the indications for which the defendants were seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the district court’s finding of lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, but upheld the district court’s finding that the patent owner to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.

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Prior conception and reduction to practice defeats invention *

USA - December 30 2011
Addressing whether limitations claimed in a patent need to have been appreciated by a prior developer of the invention in order to qualify as prior art under § 102(g)(2), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision on summary judgment, finding that the defendant’s earlier development of the infringing formulation invalidated the patent, even though the defendant had not appreciated that it had achieved the claimed invention.

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Narrowing claim amendment blocks application of the doctrine of equivalents, again *

USA - August 31 2011
Addressing whether an amendment narrowing the claim scope during the prosecution limited the patentee’s ability to capture a generic’s different, but potentially equivalent, product as infringing, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision on summary judgment, finding that prosecution history estoppel applied and barred the application of the doctrine of equivalents (DOE).

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New dosage of a known pharmaceutical: obvious? *

USA - July 31 2011
Addressing the obviousness of a patent claiming a new dosage of an otherwise known pharmaceutical formulation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision on summary judgment finding that the prior art presented an obviousness hurdle that arguments of unexpected results and commercial success could not overcome.

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