Federal Circuit Rules in Favor of Finnegan Client Eli Lilly and Company, Confirming the Existence of a Separate Written Description Requirement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 22, 2010

Contact:    Charles E. Lipsey, 571.203.2700
                    Partner

Federal Circuit Rules in Favor of Finnegan Client Eli Lilly and Company, Confirming the Existence of a Separate Written Description Requirement

WASHINGTON, DC - Today 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 was 9-2.  Judge Lourie wrote the majority opinion, and Judges Rader and Linn each wrote separate dissents.  There were twenty-five amicus briefs filed in the en banc appeal, and nineteen of them supported Lilly. 

The decision reverses a jury verdict against firm 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. 

Finnegan represented Lilly in the appeal. 

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With more than 375 intellectual property lawyers, Finnegan is one of the largest IP law firms in the world. From offices in Washington, DC; Atlanta, Georgia; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Palo Alto, California; Reston, Virginia; Brussels, Belgium; Shanghai, China; Taipei, Taiwan; and Tokyo, Japan, the firm practices all aspects of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret law, including counseling, prosecution, licensing, and litigation. Finnegan also represents clients on IP issues related to international trade, portfolio management, the Internet, e-commerce, government contracts, antitrust, and unfair competition. For additional information on the firm, please visit www.finnegan.com.

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