Finnegan secures a non-institution decision at the PTAB for Health Diagnostic Laboratory

Finnegan client Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. (HDL) served Boston Health Diagnostics Corporation with a complaint in the Eastern District of Virginia, alleging infringement of its patent directed to methods of predicting the risk of developing diabetes based on a model HDL developed using unique biomarker combinations. Boston Heart immediately petitioned the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to institute an inter partes review (IPR) challenging HDL’s asserted claims as anticipated and obvious in view of several prior art references. Finnegan secured a non-institution decision for HDL through arguments raised in its patent owner’s preliminary response that Boston Heart failed to demonstrate the prior art taught the diagnostic model using the claimed biomarker panels. The PTAB denied institution on all grounds, concluding that the petition failed to adequately explain how the cited references disclose the model as claimed.