Favorable Federal Circuit ruling confirms the existence of a separate written description requirement

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in an en banc opinion, confirmed the existence of a separate written description requirement that ensures that inventors have actually invented and described the subject matter claimed in their patents. The decision reversed a jury verdict against Finnegan client Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly had previously been found liable for infringing Ariad’s ’516 patent, and the jury had awarded Ariad a multi-million dollar verdict. The en banc opinion held that the asserted claims of the ’516 patent failed to satisfy the written description requirement of section 112 and were thus invalid.