Fresh From the Bench: Latest Precedential Patent Cases

CASE OF THE WEEK

Allgenesis Biotherapeutics Inc. v. Cloudbreak Therapeutics, LLC, Appeal No. 2022-1706 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 7, 2023)

In this week’s Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit dismissed appellant Allgenesis’s appeal of an inter partes review decision that upheld claims of Cloudbreak’s U.S. Patent No. 10,149,820 as patentable, finding that Allgenesis had failed to demonstrate a “case or controversy” under Article III sufficient to confer standing to maintain its appeal.

The opinion serves as a reminder that while Article III standing is not required to initiate inter partes review proceedings before the U.S. Patent Office, it is required to maintain an appeal from such proceedings in the federal courts, and provides additional guidance on when that showing can be made.

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ALSO THIS WEEK

Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd. v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., Appeal No. 2022-1889 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 6, 2023)

In an appeal from a district court stipulated judgment of infringement, the Federal Circuit reversed, remanding for further consideration of the underlying claim construction. The term at issue is “a pH of 13 or higher.”  At issue was the number of significant digits relevant to the number “13.” Both parties relied on portions of the intrinsic record. Three textbooks were also submitted. The district court considered the intrinsic evidence, but rejected consideration of extrinsic evidence. The Court of Appeals held that the intrinsic evidence was insufficient to answer the question, and remanded for the district court to consider the extrinsic record, noting “[i]t is not for this court to make those findings in the first instance. … [w]e leave those and other relevant factual questions that might arise based on the extrinsic evidence, including the three textbooks, for the district court to address in the first instance.”

The opinion can be found here.

Editors:

Nika Aldrich, IP Litigation Group Leader, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, P.C.

Jason A. Wrubleski, Shareholder