The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a
Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) obviousness decision, finding
the decision was infected by an erroneous claim construction that
failed to consider the purpose of the claimed invention. Kaken
Pharmaceutical Co., LTD v. Iancu, Case No. 18-2232 (Fed. Cir.
Mar. 13 2020)(Taranto, J.).
Kaken owns a patent claiming a method for topically treating
fungal infections in nails. Fungal infections of the nail plate and
nail bed are notoriously difficult to treat because topical
treatments cannot penetrate the thick keratin in the nail plate.
The patent describes an effective topical treatment with an
antifungal, KP-103, having good permeability, retention capacity
and activity in the nail plate. The patent specification notes that
topical treatments known in the prior art were largely ineffective
at penetrating the nail plate and treating onychomycosis.