Every year, the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) approves new medications. Some medications are variations of existing products, such as generic formulations or new dosage forms of previously-approved products.
In Covidien LP v. University of Florida Research Foundation Incorporated, IPR2016-01274, -01275, -01276 (January 2017), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board held that Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity applies to inter partes review (IPR) proceedings before the PTAB.
The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Apple, Inc. v. Ameranth, Inc. highlights the potential impact of characterization of recited features as conventional, routine, generic, or known in the field without further discussion of an innovation that goes beyond these features.
On January 19, 2017, the Board issued a final written decision in World Bottling Cap, LLC v Crown Packaging Technology, Inc. (IPR2015-01651) finding the challenged claims were not unpatentably obvious over the references asserted in the IPR because the patent owner had submitted sufficient evidence of secondary considerations to demonstrate non-obviousness.
On January 5, 2017, Skechers U.S.A., Inc. filed a petition with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to institute an Inter Partes Review (IPR2017-00607) (“current IPR petition”) of two design patents owned by Nike, Inc.: D696,853 and D707,032. The design patents claim an ornamental design for a “Shoe Upper.”
Anticipation by inherent disclosure requires that a single prior art reference necessarily includes the unstated limitation. The unpredictable nature of biological processes means that winning summary judgment of invalidity based on inherent anticipation is often difficult.
On December 23, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved SPINRAZA™ (nusinersen), an antisense oligonucleotide directed to survival motor neuron-2 (SMN2) transcripts for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients.
On December 22, 2016, the Second Circuit gave tote bag manufacturer My Other Bag an early Christmas present by tossing out luxury giant Louis Vuitton’s claims of trademark infringement, copyright infringement, and trademark dilution and agreeing with the District Court’s finding that My Other Bag was shielded from liability by the parody defense.
In December 2016, China’s Supreme Court held that a Chinese manufacturer named Qiaodan Sports Company, could not continue to produce athletic shoes, clothing and gear bearing the trademark 乔丹, which is the Chinese transliteration of famed NBA player Michael Jordan’s last name. The court’s ruling overturned two previous lower court decisions against Jordan, and is a rare win for foreign individuals and companies seeking to protect their intellectual property in China.
Patent applications containing nucleic acid or protein sequences are required to include an electronic sequence listing using a required format and standard symbols. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), in conjunction with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), is participating in an international effort that, if implemented, would dramatically change the requirements for sequence listings for the first time in 18 years.
