Publications & Articles

An August 12, 2005, decision by the Federal Circuit (the federal court that hears patent-related appeals) bodes well for those who wish to patent biotech inventions.

The decision concerns a dispute that started as a priority contest (called an interference in patent law) between two sets of inventors as to who invented first: Capon et al., or Eshhar et al. In a curious twist, the priority contest was short-circuited and morphed into a dispute that made allies of the original adversaries.

The interference concerned claims of Capon and Eshhar that generally were directed to novel chimeric DNA molecules encoding a fusion protein composed of a single-chain antibody and a membrane-bound lymphocyte signaling protein.

Some claims included limitations to specific antibody targets and/or specific lymphocyte signaling proteins. The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (the Board), which resolves interferences within the Patent Office, declared that neither party