PTAB Reiterates Prior Art Must Describe a Claimed Range with Sufficient Specificity to Support an Anticipation Rejection

Attorney: Sara Pistilli, PharmD.
April 24, 2024

On May 2, 2023, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) overturned a rejection of a claim directed to microparticles containing leuprolide and a biodegradable polymer, and a method for producing the same as anticipated and obvious (Appeal 2024-000508). The claim at issue of the application US 17/832,229 (the ‘229 Application) is directed towards:<... Read more

Federal Circuit Reiterates What Constitutes A Motivation to Combine, A Reasonable Expectation of Success, and Unexpected Results in New Chemical Compounds

Attorney: Sara Pistilli, PharmD.
August 30, 2023

In Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc. v. Incyte Corporation, on August 22, 2023, the Federal Circuit affirmed a Final Written Decision of the Patent and Trial Appeal Board (the Board) of an inter partes review (IPR) asserting the claims of U.S. Patent No. 9,249,149 (the ’149 patent) as obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103. The central argument was whether Sun’s “octo-deuterated” ruxolitinib analog (CTP-543) and “tetra-deuterated” ruxolitinib analogs, arising from claim 7 of the ’149 patent, were obvious in light of the prior art references presented by Incyte (Rodgers, Shilling, and the Concert Backgrounder).

Claim 7 recited:

The compound of claim 1, in which the compound is selected from the group consisting of:




or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of any of the foregoing.<... Read more

Broadest Reasonable Interpretation, not Broadest Possible Interpretation

Attorney: Sara Pistilli, PharmD.
May 11, 2023

On May 2, 2023, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) reversed the Examiner’s rejection of a claim directed to a method of creating an immobilized DNA library while preserving contiguity information of a target nucleic acid as being both anticipated and obvious (Appeal 2023-000053). Claim 1 of the application US 15/519,482 (the ‘482 Application) is directed towards:<... Read more