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Category Archives: Written Description

A Tale of Two Antibodies (Centocor Part II)

Posted by Courtenay Brinckerhoff on Posted in Federal Circuit Decisions; Written Description

As I wrote last week, the Federal Circuit held in Centocor Ortho Biotech, Inc. v. Abbott Laboratories, that the human antibody claims that Centocor had asserted against Abbott’s Humira® product are invalid for failing to satisfy the written description requirement of 35 USC § 112. The holding is getting lots of attention because it will negate a $1.67 billion damages award, but it also may be important as a cautionary tale for those who would “ensnare” competitors with later-filed claims alleged to be supported by an early-filed disclosure.

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The Written Description Requirement for Antibodies (Centocor Part I)

Posted by Courtenay Brinckerhoff on Posted in Federal Circuit Decisions; Written Description

Yesterday, in Centocor Ortho Biotech, Inc. v. Abbott Laboratories, the Federal Circuit held that the human antibody claims that Centocor had asserted against Abbott’s Humira® product (claims 2, 3, 14 and 15 of U.S. 7,070,775) are invalid for failing to satisfy the written description requirement of 35 USC § 112. (This decision will negate a $1.67 billion damages award by the jury in the trial court proceeding). I will write more about this decision soon, but for now I want to highlight the court’s discussion of the Written Description Guidelines for antibody claims.

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Written Description: When Too Much Is Not Enough

Posted by Courtenay Brinckerhoff on Posted in Federal Circuit Decisions; Written Description

In Goeddel v. Sugano, the Federal Circuit determined that a priority application that disclosed the gene encoding a full-length “precursor” protein did not constitute constructive reduction to practice of interference counts that focused on the “mature” protein. This decision is an important reminder that a disclosure that might be effective to render a claim obvious may nonetheless be ineffective to support a priority claim.

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