Federal Circuit Holds Claim Can Be Obvious Where a Combination of References Would Inherently Meet Claim Element

Just before the New Year, the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision from the District of Delaware finding patent claims related to using Zohydro ER in patients having hepatic impairment (liver disfunction) invalid as obvious. Persion Pharm. LLC v. Alvogen Malta Oper. Ltd. Some of the claims at issue included pharmacokinetic limitations requiring that the serum […]

Federal Circuit Reverses Examiner’s Anticipation Rejection Based on Examiner’s Belief that Prior Art Structure Inherently Performed Claimed Function

The Federal Circuit recently reversed and remanded an Examiner’s rejection of a claim that involved an element requiring both structural and functional limitations.  See In re Chudik, No. 2016-1487 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 9, 2017).  Specifically, the Federal Circuit reversed the Examiner’s rejection because the record failed to establish that a single prior art reference contained […]

Federal Circuit Affirms Invalidity of OxyContin® Patents[1] : The Tamper-Resistance Patent

On Monday, the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision from the Southern District of New York that four patents listed in the Orange Book for OxyContin® are invalid as anticipated and obvious in Purdue Pharma, L.P. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.  This post addresses the second half of that decision, which was directed to a patent […]