Category Archives: Patent

Enablement in the Bargain

The patent “bargain” describes the exchange that takes place when an inventor receives a limited term of “protection from competitive exploitation” in exchange for bringing “new designs and technologies into the public domain through disclosure” for the benefit of all. Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc., 489 U. S. 141, 150. As part […]

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Copying and Pasting Prior Art

In July 2018, UCANN sued Pure Hemp for infringing U.S. Patent No. 9,730,911, which disclosed and claimed various cannabis and CBD formulations. United Cannibis Corp. v, Pure Hemp Collective Inc., No. 1:18-cv-01922-WJM-NYW (D. Colo.). During the litigation, UCANN filed for bankruptcy, which triggered an automatic stay. 11 U.S.C. § 362(a). Eventually, the parties stipulated to […]

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Enabling an Inherent Upper Limit

A patent’s specification must describe the invention and “the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains . . . to make and use the same.” 35 U.S.C. § 112(a). For enablement, “the specification […]

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The Anticipation and the Obviousness of Overlapping Ranges

The framework for analyzing whether a prior art reference anticipates a claimed range varies depending on whether the prior art discloses a point within the claimed range or discloses its own range that overlaps with the claimed range. If the prior art discloses a point within the claimed range, then the prior art anticipates the […]

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Burden of IPR Estoppel as Affirmative Defense

For an inter partes review of a claim in a patent that results in a final written decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) under Section 318(a), estoppel applies in a civil action with respect to invalidity of the claim “on any ground that the petitioner raised or reasonably could have raised during […]

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