Invalidity of a Patent Claiming Antibodies Characterized by Their Function In View of Amgen

Attorney: Marina I. Miller, Ph.D.
January 12, 2024

Baxalta Inc. and Baxalta GmbH (Baxalta) appealed a district court decision that the claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,033,590 were invalid for lack of enablement. The Federal Circuit (the Court) affirmed the decision.<... Read more

The Federal Circuit's First Enablement Decision Since Amgen

Attorney: Richard D. Kelly
September 25, 2023

Federal Circuit applied Amgen v. Sanofi, 598 U.S. 594 (2013)in deciding that claims 1-4, 19 and 20 of Baxalta’s hemophilia patent, U.S. Patent 7,033,590 (‘590), were invalid as lacking an enabling disclosure.<... Read more

Supreme Court Affirms Federal Circuit Decision in Amgen v. Sanofi

Attorney: Richard D. Kelly
May 18, 2023

In a unanimous opinion the Court decided that the Federal Circuit’s decision was correct.<... Read more

Amgen v. Sanofi – Impermissible Functional Claiming?

Attorney: Richard D. Kelly
May 12, 2023

On April 28 the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Amgen’s petition of the Federal Circuit’s decision affirming the district court’s decision on JMOL that Amgen’s antibody claims lacked an enabling disclosure. Much of the argument revolved around what was the quantum of experimentation that was too much for a claim to be enabled. At the end of Sanofi’s argument its counsel cited the Morse case where the Supreme Court invalidated Morse claim 8 which defined the transmission of symbols in solely functional terms:<... Read more

Is There Any Hope For Antibody Patents in the United States?

January 25, 2022

Conclusion

Okay, let’s get this out of the way up front. The answer is maybe… but only with a lot more work and with substantially reduced claim scope.<... Read more

Must a "Human Antibody" Be Entirely Human? Or May It Also Be "Partially Human?"

Attorney: Marina I. Miller, Ph.D.
October 16, 2020

This is a consolidated appeal from two Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) decisions in inter partes reviews (“IPRs”) of U.S. Patent 8,679,487 (“the ’487 patent”), owned by Immunex Corp. (“Immunex”). Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, Genzyme Corp., and Regeneron Pharmaceuti-cals, Inc. (“Sanofi”) challenged the ’487 patent. The Board invalidated all challenged claims in IPR 2017-01884. Immunex appealed, contesting the construction of the claim term “human antibodies.” The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“the Court”) agreed with the Board’s claim construction and affirmed the invalidity decision.<... Read more

The Federal Circuit Provides a Refresher on Joint Inventorship

Attorney: Daniel J. Pereira, Ph.D.
July 28, 2020

The decision in Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc. v. Ono Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd, Tasuku Honjo, E.R. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (Fed. Cir., July 14, 2020) was an appeal of a determination of joint inventorship from the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.... Read more

Battle of the Biologics: Lilly's IPRs Clear Six Teva Patents

March 5, 2020

Several companies have received FDA approval for antagonist antibodies against calcitonin gene-related peptides. These so-called anti-CGRP biologic drugs are a relatively new type of injectable medication for preventing migraines without side effects.<... Read more

Two Herceptin® Patents Survive IPR: A Lesson in Separately Arguing Motivation to Combine and Reasonable Expectation of Success

October 4, 2018

Motivation to combine and reasonable expectation of success are separate requirements that must be independently considered. By capitalizing on shortcomings in the petitions related to separately arguing these issues, Genentech was able to save two of three patents covering its blockbuster drug Herceptin®.... Read more