Patent Law | Expert Legal Commentary

June 17, 2009

In re Kubin: Extending “Obvious to Try” to cDNA Sequence Patents

In re Kubin

By Yuri Mikulka and Spyros J. Lazaris

The Federal Circuit court applied the “obvious to try” test from KSR International v. Teleflex Inc. to biotechnology patent applications, and essentially eviscerated the obviousness standard once applied to biotech patents by the Federal Circuit in In re Deuel. While the decision in In re Kubin, 561 F.3d 1351 (Fed. Cir. 2009), will likely make it more difficult for some biotech inventors to secure patents, it does acknowledge that advances in technology and the field of biotechnology knowledge make more inventions “obvious” in light of those advances.

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Companies Mentioned

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The following companies are mentioned in Patent Law Updates:

Boston Scientific Corp.

Microsoft Corp.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Stryker Corp.

Samsung Electronics America, Inc.

Cordis Corp.

Boston Scientific Scimed, Inc.

Kohl’s Department Stores, Inc.

K-Mart Corp.

J.C. Penney Company, Inc.

Audiovox Communications Corp.

Glamourmom LLC

McKesson Information Solutions, Inc.

Federated Department Stores

Bridge Medical, Inc.

Elizabeth Lange LLC d.b.a. Liz Lange Maternity

United States Patent and Trademark Office

Smithkline Beecham Corp. (d.b.a. GlaxoSmithKline, plc.)

SmithKline Beecham PLC

SmithKline Beecham Corp. d.b.a GlaxoSmithKline

Scimed Life Systems Inc.

HT Window Fashion Corp.

Glaxo Group Limited d.b.a. GlaxoSmithKline

Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc.

Ranbaxy, Inc.

Mylan Pharmaceutical, Inc.

Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.

Mylan Laboratories, Inc.

Nokia, Inc.

Stryker Sales Corp.

Stryker Orthopaedics

Howmedica Osteonics Corp.

Acumed, LLC

Quanta Computer, Inc.

Sanyo North America Corp.

LG Electronics, Inc.

Smith & Nephew, Inc.

Cohesive Technologies, Inc.

Waters Corp.

Swisa, Inc.

Egyptian Goddess, Inc.

Motorola, Inc.

Dror Swisa

Johnson & Johnson, Inc.

Target Corp.

Sears Holding Corp.

Mayo Collaborative Services d.b.a. Mayo Medical Laboratories

Lien Chang Electronic Enterprise Co., Ltd.

Chi Mei Communication Systems, Inc.

Citibank

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