#patent-law

#patent-law

In our latest IPWatchdog Unleashed podcast, I spoke with Rob Sahr, shareholder at Wolf Greenfield and co-chair of our 2025 Life Sciences Masters™ program. Our conversation zeroed in on a hard truth the public rarely sees: moving a molecule from early discovery to an FDA-approved therapy requires a chain of scientific and economic miracles-and every one of them leans on a reliable patent system.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on Tuesday issued a precedential decision in Duke University v. Sandoz Inc., reversing a judgment from the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado and finding claim 30 of U.S. Patent No. 9,579,270 invalid for lacking an adequate written description. The ruling overturns a $39 million jury verdict finding that Sandoz Inc. infringed the patent owned by Duke University and Allergan Sales, LLC, which covers the eyelash growth drug, LATISSE.

For the past five years, I have taught Legislation & Regulation at Oklahoma City University School of Law-a course at the crossroads of administrative law, statutory interpretation, and the legislative process. Each semester, my students and I return to a central inquiry: when, if ever, should courts defer to agency interpretations, and when must judges exercise their own independent judgment? That question has taken on new urgency in the wake of the Supreme Court's recent restructuring of administrative law.

"The court's interpretation of Rule 3.1(c) as including an unwritten 'how' requirement was arbitrary and improperly reads in a requirement that has no support in the plain language of the rule."

"Prohibiting the enforcement of validly issued U.S. patents destabilizes the entire innovation ecosystem." - C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen.

"If Xerox wanted its more limited construction, it should have written the claims as it did in the substitute claim," said the CAFC.

The Plant Patent Act of 1930 allows for the patenting of newly discovered and asexually reproduced plants, including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and seedlings. It, however, excludes tuber propagated plants and those found in their natural state.

Wen Xie emphasizes the inevitability of AI's presence in every profession and technology, asserting that resistance is futile in patent drafting and prosecution.

The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly declined to take patent eligibility cases, creating chaos around Section 101 that threatens American innovation and economic security.

The upcoming Supreme Court petition in Lynk Labs, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. presents a critical examination of the meaning of "prior art" in patent law.

"If it is repugnant for legislation to apply retroactively to destroy settled expectations, it must similarly be repugnant for a concocted common law doctrine to be applied retroactively to destroy settled expectations."

Driscoll's holds significant power in the berry market, not by growing berries directly but through licensing new varieties and enforcing strict patent rights.