Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 2023-1247 · judgment May 10, 2023
Before the decision, about 1.9× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and a Federal Circuit decision below, and down for a business respondent.
Question presented
Section 103 of title 35 of the U.S. Code provides that an invention is not patentable if it “would have been obvious” to a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art. In KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., this Court explained that a “combination of familiar elements according to known methods is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results.” 550 U.S. 398, 416 (2007). The Federal Circuit, based on its own longstanding rule, holds that a combination of known elements is obvious where an ordinarily skilled artisan would have a “reasonable expectation of success” in reaching the resulting invention. Applying that rule here, the Federal Circuit concluded that the mere existence of a clinical trial and long-existing general FDA guidance would contribute to a skilled artisan’s reasonable expectation of success, rendering the results of the ensuing experimentation unpatentable, no matter how innovative or unpredictable the results. The question presented is: Whether obviousness requires a showing of “predictable” results, as this Court held in KSR, or a mere “reasonable expectation of success,” as the Federal Circuit has held both before and after KSR?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Paul Whitfield Hughes
McDermott Will & Emery
For respondent
Aaron Scott Lukas
Cozen O'Connor
Proceedings
- Apr 22 2024Petition DENIED.
- Apr 03 2024DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/19/2024.
- Apr 02 2024Reply of petitioner Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. filed. (Distributed)
- Mar 18 2024Brief of respondent Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. in opposition filed.
- Feb 16 2024Brief amici curiae of Professor Christopher M. Turoski and The National Association of Patent Practitioners filed.
- Feb 15 2024Response Requested. (Due March 18, 2024)
- Feb 14 2024Brief amici curiae of American Council of the Blind, Blinded Veterans Association, and PRISMS filed.
- Feb 07 2024DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/23/2024.
- Feb 07 2024Brief amici curiae of Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. filed. (Distributed)
- Jan 31 2024Waiver of right of respondent Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. to respond filed.
- Jan 31 2024Waiver of right of respondents Apotex Inc. and Apotex Corp. to respond filed.
- Jan 12 2024Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due February 16, 2024)
- Oct 18 2023Application (23A344) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until January 12, 2024.
- Oct 13 2023Application (23A344) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from November 14, 2023 to January 12, 2024, submitted to The Chief Justice.