Unpacking The Solicitor General's Brief In Vanda

Responding to the invitation from the Supreme Court, the Solicitor General for the United States has filed an amicus brief for the United States in Hikma Pharmaceuticals USC Inc. v. Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. Stakeholders satisfied with the Federal Circuit decision in Vanda may be relieved to see that the Solicitor General urges the Supreme Court to deny certiorari in this case. Unpacking the arguments supporting that recommendation shed light on the government’s position on the Court’s recent patent eligibility decisions, and how they impact diagnostic and personalized method of treatment claims in particular.

The Federal Circuit Decision in Vanda

As noted in this article on the Federal Circuit decision in Vanda, a divided panel of the Federal Circuit upheld the validity of personalized method of treatment claims against a patent eligibility challenge. The majority (Judge Lourie and Judge Hughes) characterized the claims as being “directed to a specific method