Late yesterday, the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential order dismissing an appeal. This morning the court released one precedential opinion and two nonprecedential opinions. The precedential opinion comes in a patent case appealed from the District of Delaware. Notably, Judge Dyk concurred in part and dissented in part. One of the nonprecedential opinions comes in a trademark case appealed from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and the other comes in a veterans case appealed from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Here are the introductions to the opinions as well as a link to the dismissal.
Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. v. Hetero Labs Ltd. (Precedential)
Hetero Labs Limited (“Hetero”) appeals from an order granting a preliminary injunction in this patent case. The district court’s order enjoined Hetero from introducing a generic drug to compete with Nuedexta, a drug used for treating neurological disorders. In granting the preliminary injunction, the court concluded that Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc., and its subsidiary, Avanir Pharmaceuticals, LLC (collectively, “Otsuka”), would be likely to succeed in proving that Hetero’s product would infringe U.S. Patent No. 7,659,282 (“the ’282 patent”), owned by Avanir, and that the relevant equitable factors favored granting the injunction.
The issues on appeal are (1) whether the district court properly interpreted the terms “dextromethorphan” and “quinidine” in the weight-to-weight ratio limitation in claim 1 of the ’282 patent, and (2) whether the district court permissibly waived the requirement imposed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c) that Otsuka post a bond pending appeal. We affirm the district court’s construction of the disputed claim terms, but we vacate the district court’s order waiving the requirement of a bond pending appeal.
Dyk, Circuit Judge, concurring-in-part and dissenting-in-part
I respectfully dissent from the majority’s claim construction, its conclusion on infringement, and its decision sustaining the preliminary injunction.
The question is what the terms “dextromethorphan” and “quinidine” mean in the claims of the ’282 patent. The majority concludes that they refer to both (1) those molecules alone, and (2) a broader class of salt compounds that contain those molecules as active moieties and also a carrier ion that has no therapeutic significance. While administration via salt forms is covered by the claims because the salt forms contain quinidine and dextromethorphan as active moieties, the claimed weight measurements are designed to only take into account the weight of those active moieties, that is, the quinidine or dextromethorphan ions contained within the salt compound. The majority’s construction, which calculates the weight-to-weight ratio either using the weight of the active moiety (when administered in the pure “free base” form) or the total weight of a salt compound (when administered in the salt form), is inconsistent with the objective of the invention and is unsupported by the specification and prosecution history.
In re Marini y Compania, S.A. (Nonprecedential)
Marini y Compañía, S.A. appeals a decision of the United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board affirming the refusals to register Marini y Compañía, S.A.’s MON AMI marks. Marini y Compañía, S.A. challenges the Board’s factual determinations as to the similarity of the marks pursuant to DuPont factor one. Because the Board’s determination that the MON AMI marks are similar to a previously registered mark, AMÌ, is supported by substantial evidence, we affirm.
Hutchison v. Collins (Nonprecedential)
Carrol E. Hutchison appeals a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (“Veterans Court”) affirming a decision of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (“Board”). The Board denied entitlement to serviceconnected disability benefits for a left knee disorder, a right knee disorder, a right ankle disorder, and a sleep disorder on the ground that Ms. Hutchison had failed to establish her claimed disabilities were caused by an injury incurred or aggravated in line of service.