Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, January 25, 2016, will be a discussion of the following:

Merck & Cie v. Gnosis S.P.A., (Fed. Cir. December 17, 2015) (available here).  The Patent Trial and Appeal Board instituted inter partes review of Merck’s patent relating to methods of using folates to lower levels of homocysteine in the human body at the request of Gnosis. The Board found claims invalid for obviousness in light of prior art. The Federal Circuit affirmed, finding that the Board’s factual findings were supported by substantial evidence and rejecting Merck’s arguments that the prior art taught away from the claimed method.

Redline Detection LLC v. Star Envirotech, Inc., (Fed. Cir. December 31, 2015) (available here).  In an inter partes review, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board denied plaintiff’s motion to submit supplemental information and found that it failed to show that certain claims of the patent relating to methods of generating smoke for use in explosive environments would have been obvious.  On appeal, the Federal Circuit affirmed the inter partes review decision, finding that the Board did not err in finding plaintiff failed to prove the patent would have been obvious and substantial evidence supports the Board’s determination of the scope and content of the prior art.

All are invited to join us in our discussion during the SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, January 25, 2016, at Noon in our Westlake Village office. This activity is approved for 1 hour of MCLE credit. If you will be joining us, please RSVP to Moniquee Brown by 9 am Monday morning.