“Promise Doctrine”

The Supreme Court of Canada heard oral arguments today on Eli Lilly’s application for leave to appeal in its olanzapine patent infringement proceeding where its selection patent was found invalid for lacking utility under the ‘promise doctrine’ by the lower courts, with a decision expected this Thursday. US recently listed Canada on its IP ‘watch list’, highlighting concern with Canada’s “heightened utility requirements for patents that Canadian courts have been adopting recently.”
Continue reading “Promise Doctrine”

En banc Patentable subject matter

Earlier today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit released its en banc decision in CLS Bank International v. Alice Corporation on the patentability of computer related inventions. The panel of ten judges wrote seven sets of reasons but a majority affirmed the lower court decision that the asserted system, method and computer-readable media claims were not directed to eligible subject matter.

Continue reading En banc Patentable subject matter