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Fujikawa v. Wattanasin

Name
Fujikawa v. Wattanasin
Cite
93 F.3d 1559
Year
1996
Bluebook cite
Fujikawa v. Wattanasin, 93 F.3d 1559 (Fed. Cir. 1996).
Author
URL
93 F.3d 1559
Item Type
case
Summary
Appeal from a patent interference proceeding, where Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences awarded priority to junior party. The invention at issue related to a compound and method for inhibiting cholesterol biosynthesis in humans and other animals. The issue with regard to utility was whether in vitro and in vivo tests were sufficient to establish practical utility, and thus establish a reduction to practice. The Board held that the in vitro tests established a practical utility for the compound and that the in vivo tests established a practical utility for both the compound and method counts.

The court affirmed the Board’s findings with regard to utility. First, the court set out the rule that “{i}n the pharmaceutical arts . . . practical utility may be shown by adequate evidence of any pharmacological activity.” The court then noted that this rule only applies when no particular utility has been asserted, and that when a particular utility is recited an adequate showing of that specific utility must be made. Next, recognizing that testing may be necessary to establish practical utility, the court stated the standard that test results need only be reasonably indicative of a desired pharmacological result, so as to convince those skilled in the art, in order to establish practical utility. Noting caselaw suggesting “that positive in vitro results, in combination with a known correlation between such in vitro results and in vivo activity, may be sufficient to establish practical utility”, the court affirmed the conclusion of the Board that “the test results as a whole were sufficient to establish pharmacological activity in the minds of those skilled in the art” and thus establish practical utility.

Excerpts and Summaries

Created
Saturday 06 of September, 2008 17:39:12 GMT
by Unknown
LastModif
Thursday 11 of September, 2008 11:12:38 GMT
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