Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today’s report highlights:
- an article and a blog post commenting on the recent Supreme Court ruling in Amgen v. Sanofi; and
- two articles providing updates on the ongoing proceedings concerning Judge Newman’s competency to serve as a judge on the Federal Circuit.
Kelcee Griffis authored an article for Bloomberg Law highlighting pharmaceutical companies’ comments on the recent Supreme Court ruling in Amgen Inc. v. Sanofi, Avenitsub LLC. In this article, Griffis explains how “Amgen in a statement said it’s disappointed in the outcome but vowed to ‘continue to fight for patent laws and policies that provide meaningful patent protection needed to foster breakthrough innovation.’” Griffis, however, also notes how “drugmakers such as Pfizer Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, and Genentech Inc. previously told the court” that “Sanofi and Regeneron’s win will promote the disclosure of specific inventions and breakthroughs over time without unfairly monopolizing far-ranging research areas.”
Eric M. Fraser posted to SCOTUSblog his own analysis of the opinion in Amgen Inc. v. Sanofi, Aventisub LLC case. Fraser remarks how “this ruling deals a blow to genus patents, which are particularly common in the pharmaceutical, chemical, and biotech fields.” Fraser notes how, “although Gorsuch agreed with Amgen that genus patents do not have to satisfy a higher enablement standard, the reality is that it will be much more difficult to satisfy the enablement requirement for most genus patents than for other, narrower patents.”
Jasqueline Thompson authored an article for Reuters providing an update on the competency claims against Judge Newman in the ongoing proceeding regarding her fitness to serve as a judge on the Federal Circuit. Thompson notes how there are allegations Judge Newman “has been unable to complete simple tasks independently and threatened a staffer with arrest, according to witness reports included in an order from her court.” Thompson also mentions how the “Federal Circuit said it will not comment on the order or other related documents it released.”
Eileen McDermott also posted to IPWatchdog about the proceedings against Judge Newman. McDermott highlights how a recent order “make[s] numerous claims that indicate ‘overwhelming evidence raising concerns about whether Judge Newman currently suffers from a disability that makes her unable to efficiently perform the duties of her office.’” McDermott explains how the order “notes that Chief Judge Moore ‘did not file a complaint nor is she a complainant” but instead “identified a complaint,” which “allows a Chief Judge to initiate the complaint when others have presented allegations establishing probable cause to believe a disability exists.’”