Quantcast
Channel: TMT Perspectives
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 9

U.S. Supreme Court Clarifies Standard of Review for Appeal of Patent Claim Construction

0
0

In a 7-2 decision handed down on January 20th, the U.S. Supreme Court held that while the ultimate determination of what a patent claim means is still a question of law subject to de novo review at the Federal Circuit, a district court’s resolution of subsidiary factual findings made during claim construction should be set aside only if those findings are clearly erroneous. This decision modifies long-standing Federal Circuit precedent requiring that all aspects of claim construction be reviewed de novo on appeal and may lead to heated battles between litigants over drawing the line between law and fact. The case is Teva Pharmaceuticals v. Sandoz, Inc.

Teva sued Sandoz for infringing a patent covering the manufacturing method for Copaxone, a drug used to treat multiple sclerosis. Sandoz argued that the patent was invalid because the term “molecular weight” appearing in the claims was indefinite. According to Sandoz, it was not clear which of several definitions of “molecular weight” the claims were referring to. Both Teva and Sandoz presented expert witnesses and evidence on this point. The district court sided with Teva’s expert. On appeal, the Federal Circuit reviewed the district court’s findings on claim construction de novo. The Supreme Court held that the district court’s finding as to the definition of “molecular weight” was a factual finding, and that the Federal Circuit should have accepted the district court’s finding unless it was clearly erroneous. For more information, please see our Client Alert.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 9

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images