Federal Circuit Confirms that Blocking-Patents Can Kill Secondary Considerations

The Federal Circuit recently refused to rehear a panel decision that affirmed a district court’s finding that the existence of a blocking patent negated the patent owner’s argument that commercial success, failure of others, and long-felt but unmet need showed the patents-in-suit were non-obvious. Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. et al. v. Roxane Labs., Inc. et al. (original […]

Blocking Patents May Minimize Probative Value of Blockbuster Sales in Obviousness Analysis

Last week, Federal Circuit Judge William Bryson, sitting by designation in the Eastern District of Texas, held that the claims of four of the six Orange Book-listed patents for Restasis® were invalid.  In reaching this decision, Judge Bryson discounted the extensive sales revenues of Restasis® offered by Allergan to demonstrate commercial success.  Allergan, et al. […]