Patent Baristas

In Rockey, Inc. v. Cordis Corp. (05-1236), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that determining patent infringement is a two-step process consisting of the court construing the claims and then comparing the allegedly infringing device to the properly construed claims. Arlaine & Gina Rockey, Inc. (“AGR”) filed an action against Cordis […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in SmithKline Beecham Corp. and GlaxoSmithKline v. Apotex Corp (04-1522), held that once a product is fully disclosed in the art, future claims to that same product are precluded, even if that product is claimed as made by a new process. Earlier, SmithKline sued Apotex for […]

The University of California won a $100 million plus settlement from Monsanto for patent claims that had been pending for over 24 years – a patent covering the growth hormone used to make cows produce more milk. Monsanto reached a deal with the university just as the case was set to begin a jury trial. […]

On January 17, 2006 Judge Rodney Sippel of the U.S. District Court for the eastern district of Missouri has ruled under summary judgment in favor of the generic challengers, clearing their way to launch generic versions of Toprol-XL in U.S. market. This is, however, a pyrrhic victory for generic manufactures after successive para IV defeats […]

The Supreme Court agreed to consider allowing a lawsuit by MedImmune Inc. that seeks to end royalties the company pays on its drug Synagis to go forward. The Court agreed to review a Federal Circuit decision that a licensee may not use a declaratory judgment action to challenge the validity of the licensed patent where […]

In Ferring B.V., and Aventis v. Barr Labs, (05-1284), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, deemed a patent unenforceable due to inequitable conduct where the inventors submitted declarations to the examiner in order to define the term “peroral” but did not disclose to the examiner that some of the declarants had been employed […]

A former University of Alabama professor is being sued by the University of Alabama System claiming that it owns his patents worth $197 million. The complaint was filed by The Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama against Nektar Therapeutics AL, Corporation, and Nektar Therapeutics in the United States District Court for the Northern […]

Here at Patent Baristas, we love the mystery and intrigue that comes with litigation to establish priority of invention. These matters often bring out juicy details worthy of a good Dynasty episode. In a particularly protracted example, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in Medichem, S.A., v. Rolabo, S.L. (05-1179, 05-1248), reversed […]