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ARTICLE · 13 JULY 2016

Federal Circuit Offers Path Through Section 101 Thicket For Biotech Method Patents

Foley Hoag LLP
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Chief Judge Proust, joined by Judges Moore and Stoll, reversed the district court and, in doing so, shed some light on the Supreme Court's two-step subject-matter eligibility test as applied to inventions in the life sciences field.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Barbara Fiacco
Barbara Fiacco
Brendan Jones
Brendan Jones
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In its July 5, 2016 decision in Rapid Litigation Management Ltd and In Vitro, Inc. v. CellzDirect, Inc. and Invitrogen Corp., the Federal Circuit held that patent claims directed to an improved method of cryopreserving certain liver cells constitutes patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The district court had granted summary judgment of invalidity, holding that the claims were directed to a law of nature: namely, that hepatocytes can survive multiple freeze-thaw cycles. Chief Judge Proust, joined by Judges Moore and Stoll, reversed the district court and, in doing so, shed some light on the Supreme Court's two-step subject-matter eligibility test as applied to inventions in the life sciences field.

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