Fresh From the Bench: Latest Federal Circuit Court Cases

CASE OF THE WEEK

Persion Pharms. LLC v. Alvogen Malta Operations Ltd., Appeal No. 2018-2361 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 27, 2019)

In this week’s Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court judgment finding asserted claims of related pharmaceutical patents invalid as obvious. The patents claimed extended-release, single-active-ingredient formulations of hydrocodone for treating pain in patients with hepatic impairment, and following a bench trial, the district court found the claims obvious in view of two prior art references, the state of the prior art at the time of the invention, and public labels for existing pharmaceuticals. On appeal, the patentee raised arguments relating to, inter alia, the relevance of certain evidence considered by the district court and the objective indicia of non-obviousness.