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ARTICLE · 05 JUNE 2013

Claim Construction Turns On Patentee Disclaimer

Declining to hold that one epitope can count as two, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a lower court’s narrow construction of the term "anti-CD20 antibody".

United StatesIntellectual Property

Biogen Idec, Inc. v. GlaxoSmithKline LLC

Declining to hold that one epitope can count as two, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a lower court's narrow construction of the term "anti-CD20 antibody," finding that patentees disclaimed the use of anti-CD20 antibodies targeted to either of two antigenic regions on the CD20 molecule. Biogen Idec, Inc. v. GlaxoSmithKline LLC, Case No. 12-1120 (Fed. Cir., Apr. 16, 2013) (Reyna, J.) (Plager, J., dissenting).

Biogen owns a patent covering a method for treating patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) through antibody binding to the CD20 antigens present on the CLL cell surface. The patent broadly claims uses unlimited by any particular type of anti-CD20 antibody. Dependent claims recite uses of specific anti-CD20 antibodies such as Biogen's Rituxan® approved for treatment of CLL and other leukemias in the United States.

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