GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceuticals news

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed to rehear en banc a suit brought by GlaxoSmithKline and Triantafyllos Tafas, an individual inventor, against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. By reinstating the appeal, the CAFC vacated its March 20 mixed ruling on the agency's final rules concerning patent applications. That ruling overturned a summary judgment by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia that had declared the rules exceeded the scope of the PTO's rulemaking authority, which the agency appealed to the CAFC. The CAFC's March opinion also found that the agency's rule limiting the number of continuing applications conflicted with the Patent Act and was thus invalid. ...