Fed. Circ. Affirms PTAB Ruling Axing Glucose-Testing Patent
By Kelly Knaub
Law360, New York (January 20, 2016, 4:56 PM ET) -- The Federal Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision in an America Invents Act inter partes review that Johnson & Johnson subsidiary LifeScan Scotland Ltd.'s patent on testing the level of glucose in the blood is invalid as obvious.
In a per curiam decision, the three-judge panel upheld the PTAB’s findings without offering an accompanying opinion.
LifeScan had argued that the PTAB’s final written decision, issued in August 2014, was “replete with legal errors” and contended its conclusion that the claims of U.S. Patent Number 7,250,105 are obvious lacks substantial evidentiary support. It also argued that the IPR proceeding was procedurally flawed, saying that only the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or her proper delegate, is able to institute IPRs.
Director of the USPTO Michelle K. Lee, who intervened in the case, told the appeals court that LifeScan’s contention that she lacks the discretion to delegate the institution decision to the board had no merit, saying she properly delegated her authority to the PTAB.
The three-judge panel ultimately ruled in favor of Pharmatech Solutions Inc., which argued that substantial evidence did, in fact, support the board’s basis for finding that the disputed claims of the ‘105 patent would have been obvious over the combination of two prior art references. It also said LifeScan waived any challenge to the USPTO director herself not instituting the IPR and that even if it did not, the claim was meritless... |
