Steve Rizzi's clients joined industry leaders in urging the full Federal Circuit to reconsider a patent invalidation that they say placed a judicially made rule above law set by Congress. The drugmakers asked the appeals court to grant a rehearing petition filed by Cellect LLC, which is hoping for another shot to prove that its patents shouldn't have been invalidated through the obviousness-type double patenting doctrine. That doctrine bars patent owners from getting follow-on patents that aren't "patentably distinct."
A Federal Circuit panel in August said that when a patent term adjustment causes two patents to expire at different times, they can still be invalidated for double patenting. For Cellect, that meant the invalidation of image sensor patents challenged by Samsung.
Law360's coverage of the filing can be found here.