Pharmatech Solutions, Inc. v. LifeScan Scotland
Ltd.
In a final written decision addressing an obviousness challenge,
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal
Board (PTAB, the Board) found the challenged claims unpatentable as
obvious, noting that the patent owner failed to respond to
petitioner's arguments regarding disclosures in certain prior
art references. Pharmatech Solutions, Inc. v. LifeScan
Scotland Ltd., Case IPR2013-00247 (PTAB, Aug. 6, 2014)
(Kamholz, APJ).
Pharmatech petitioned the Board for an inter partes
review (IPR). The challenged patent was directed to methods
for monitoring glucose levels in blood by measuring the electrical
current created when blood is in contact with sensors positioned on
a testing strip. In the ensuing proceeding, Pharmatech argued
that the challenged claims were obvious in view of the combined
teachings of the references to Nankai and Schulman and of the
references to Winarta and Schulman.
