CAFC Invalidates Some Bayer Patent Claims, Remands Others for Reconsideration
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) has partially affirmed and remanded a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) regarding Bayer's patent claims for methods of reducing cardiovascular event risks. The CAFC invalidated some claims but sent others back for reconsideration.
The CAFC agreed with the PTAB's finding that a skilled artisan would have combined prior art scientific journal articles to create the claimed invention. It distinguished the case of Allergan Sales v. Sandoz, where 'clinically proven effective' was crucial due to its functional limitation in the claims. The CAFC ruled that Bayer's offered secondary characteristics of unexpected clinical efficacy had no relevance to the patent's merits.
The CAFC remanded the ruling to the PTAB for proper construction of the claim term 'first product' regarding claims 5 through 8. It affirmed the PTAB's obviousness findings for claims 1 through 4. The CAFC also rejected Bayer's arguments that 'clinically proven effective' requires clinical efficacy proof, stating that adding unrelated limitations does not make known methods patentable.
The CAFC's decision invalidates some of Bayer's patent claims but sends others back for reconsideration. Bayer Pharma Aktiengesellschaft, the patent manufacturer, must now await the PTAB's revised ruling on the remanded claims.
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