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Ariad Decision Voids Attempt to Use Broad Claiming to Avoid the Written Description Requirement

By Donald Zuhn, Kevin Noonan, Chris Singer, Sherri Oslick, and Jason Derry

By Kevin E. Noonan -- Beginning with Regents of the University of California v. Eli Lilly and Company, the Federal Circuit has applied the written description requirement stringently in many art areas as a requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph, that is separate from the enablement requirement. Judge Linn, at least, believes that is a doctrinal mistake, as he expressly stated in a concurring opinion in Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Eli Lilly and Co. that read more like a dissent. But how Ariad attempted to avoid the strictures of the written description requirement illustrates the wisdom of the...

Full post as published by Patent Docs on April 15, 2009 (boomark / email).