Finnegan secures an award of priority in transdermal drug delivery interference

On behalf of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co., we provoked an interference in the PTO between 3M’s patent application and a patent issued to Adhesives Research, Inc. The subject matter was a type of transdermal drug delivery system that uses an adhesive composition, and both parties introduced evidence of actual reduction to practice. We were successful in obtaining an award of priority against the patentee in the PTO and thereafter prevailed in a Section 146 action for review of the PTO decision brought by the losing patentee in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.