Altana and Wyeth were thwarted in their attempt to block Teva Pharmaceuticals from infringing U.S. Patent No. 4,758,579, directed to the compound pantoprazole, the active ingredient in Altana’s antiulcer drug Protonix®. The compound pantoprazole belongs to a class of compounds known as proton pump inhibitors (“PPIs”) that are used to treat gastric acid disorders in […]

In In re Kubin (08-1184), the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences was correct to hold claims as unpatentably obvious when applicants use “conventional techniques” to make an invention.  This is bad news not just for biotech but for […]