Chinta & Fratangelo LLP

Immunogen Antibody Conjugate Patent Survives IPR

Immunogen’s US Patent 8,337,856, which claims antibody-toxin immunogates for the treatment of cancer, survives an IPR challenge in a final written decision by the PTAB. In an unpredictable art, the Board finds that general statements in the prior art giving hints of future research were insufficient to provide a reasonable expectation of success.

Entecavir Obvious?

In this Hatch-Waxman case, Bristol-Myers Squibb, owner of the drug entecavir (sold as Baraclude®, indicated for hepatitis B (HBV) infection), sued Teva Pharmaceuticals for patent infringement. Teva responded that the patent (the only patent at issue was US5206244, priority date 10/18/1990), which claims the chemical structure of entecavir, was obvious. The district court found in …

PTAB Obviousness Finding Reversed in Institut Pasteur GIIE Endonuclease Patents

Contact the author: Andrew Berks Inst. Pasteur v. Focarino, No. 2012-1485 (Fed. Cir. 12/30/2013) Three patents were at issue, US6610545, US6833252, and US7309605, all based on an application originally filed 5/6/1992 and expired on 5/6/2012. The patents disclose group I intron encoded (GIIE) endonucleases. GIIE endonucleases are valuable research tools that are highly specific in selecting …