Recent Pharmaceutical, Chemical, and Biotech Case Law on Infringement Under the Doctrine of Equivalents

The doctrine of equivalents is a judicially created doctrine allowing a court to find infringement when an accused instrumentality is insubstantially different from the patented invention, or when the accused instrumentality and the patented invention perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same result. This presentation will explore recent case law on the doctrine of equivalents in the pharmaceutical, chemical, and biotech fields, and will include discussions of topics including:

• The continued viability of the doctrine of equivalents as a tool for proving patent infringement;
• Judicial guidance on the successful application of the “insubstantial difference” and “function/way/result” tests; and
• How limitations on the doctrine of equivalents can influence prosecution and litigation strategies.

Moderator:
Jenna Logsdon, Ph.D.

Presenters:
Justin Hasford
Matthew Hlinka
Emmanuel Onochie