The Federal Circuit Refines Patentability Requirements in pharmaceutical and Chemical Technologies A decision from the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has refined what is required to show obviousness and anticipation in a pharmaceutical patent.  The patent involved lacosamide, an amino acid-like drug used in epilepsy treatment, shown below: Accord, a generic drug manufacturer, submitted an […]

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently issued new guidelines to determine patent eligibility.  For years after Alice,[i] Mayo,[ii] and Myriad,[iii] software and biotechnology patent applicants have had difficulty patenting many inventions, particularly in the trending “personalized medicine” field where patient genetics and proteomics are considered when selecting treatment regimens.

The Federal Circuit recently issued a much needed development in patentability case law, in Vanda Pharma. Inc. v. West-Ward Pharma. Int’l Ltd.[i]  Beginning in 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court upended years of patent law regarding patentable subject matter in biotechnology, relying on earlier case law stating natural laws and natural phenomena were not patent eligible […]

Most individuals have at one point or another signed an employment agreement or outside contractor agreement with respect to his or her employment.  For employees, it commonly is a formality needed for a job. For employers, it is a means of obtaining an employment period, establishing or delineating work policies, and acquiring rights to intellectual […]