The Federal Circuit affirmed that Sandoz’s generic pirfenidone label would not induce infringement of Genentech’s method-of-treatment patents, and also upheld invalidity of the liver function test patents as obvious, clarifying the inducement standard for drug labels in Hatch-Waxman litigation.
The Federal Circuit held that genuine disputes of material fact precluded summary judgment of patent invalidity for failure to name a co-inventor, reversing the district court’s ruling that the patents were invalid for nonjoinder.
The Federal Circuit held that collateral estoppel from a prior IPR proceeding can invalidate claims in a later IPR even when the claims use different language, as long as the differences do not materially alter the question of patentability.
The Federal Circuit upheld the exclusion of a patent owner’s expert witness whose infringement opinion rested on a claim construction that materially differed from the district court’s adopted construction, resulting in summary judgment of noninfringement.
The Federal Circuit held that a patent owner’s disclaimer made for the first time during an IPR proceeding does not bind the PTAB in that same proceeding, preventing patentees from narrowing claim scope through argument alone to avoid invalidity.
The Federal Circuit unanimously affirmed the district court’s holding that five patent claims covering ibrutinib (Imbruvica) — a breakthrough cancer drug — were not invalid for obviousness, lack of written description, or lack of enablement, underscoring appellate deference to trial court fact
The Federal Circuit held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board may adopt claim constructions that differ from those entered by a district court in concurrent litigation, as the two proceedings are legally independent.
The Federal Circuit held that patent owners may amend claims during inter partes review to address issues beyond the specific grounds raised in the petition, provided the amendments do not enlarge claim scope or add new matter.
The Federal Circuit held that although an irrevocable patent license cannot be unilaterally revoked by the grantor, both parties may mutually agree to terminate it, and doing so restores the licensor’s standing to bring patent infringement suits against the former licensee.
The Federal Circuit reversed a district court’s ruling that the claim term “Downloadable” was indefinite in Finjan’s computer virus detection patents, holding that the term’s plain meaning — an executable or interpretable application program — was sufficiently definite.