Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. V. Iancu

On May 14, 2018, in Anacor v. Iancu, the Federal Circuit issued its opinion affirming the Board’s invalidation of Anacor’s tavaborole patent.  The patent-in-suit, U.S. Patent No. 7,582,621, entitled “Boron-containing Small Molecules,” is directed to the use of tavaborole to treat fungal infections.  According to the disclosure, tavaborole can be used to treat a fungal infection known as onychomycosis, which is a nail disease responsible for approximately half of all nail disorders in humans.  In an inter parties review, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board found all of the claims of the ’621 patent unpatentable for obviousness.  Anacor appealed with respect to only one of the claims and the Federal Circuit affirmed.