Last week, a significant development occurred in patent law when the Federal Circuit held that obviousness-type double patenting trumps patent term adjustment. This decision has potentially opened avenues for validity attacks that had previously been deemed uncertain. The ruling was a part of the In re Cellect case, an appeal from a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision affirming a patent examiner’s finding.
The patents under scrutiny belong to Cellect LLC. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board previously upheld the examiner’s view that claims spread across four of Cellect’s patents were unpatentable due to obviousness-type double patenting (ODP). The recent Federal Circuit’s decision emphasizes that ODP precedes patent term adjustment, paving a way for further examination and potentially bringing a waved of questions about patent validity.
Legal professionals specializing in patent law and those working in corporations that heavily rely on patent protection should take note of this development. It underlines the necessity to be fastidious not just about Ps and Qs, but PTAs too while dealing with patent applications and related aspects.
For further details and to delve deeper into the case, visit the original case analysis on JDSupra.