Taiwan company fails to overturn PTAB decision over eye treatment patent
Federal Circuit rejects appeal in patent dispute with California’s Cloudbreak Theraputics | Court stated failure to prove concrete injury.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has dismissed an appeal brought by Allgenesis Biotherapeutics against Cloudbreak Therapeutics in a precedential decision.
The case involved a dispute over a patent related to an eye drug treatment.
Allgenesis contested a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) final written decision in February 2022, which concluded that Allgenesis had failed to prove the unpatentability of one of Cloudbreak’s patents.
Cloudbreak’s patent, US patent number 10,149,82, is a method for treating pterygium, an eye condition characterised by tumour-like growth extending from the nasal or side of the eye to the cornea.
The patent proposes a treatment involving the administration of multikinase inhibitors to inhibit specific growth factors associated with tumour growth and eye redness.
Delivering the decision, Chief Judge Kimberly Moore said that Allgenesis had “failed to establish an injury in fact sufficient to confer standing to appeal.”
Allgenesis’ failed arguments
The court highlighted two main arguments put forward by Allgenesis.
Firstly, Allgenesis argued that it faced an injury based on potential infringement liability arising from its development of nintedanib treatments for pterygium.
The court found Allgenesis' assertions vague and lacking specificity, stating the company failed to provide concrete plans for future activities creating a substantial risk of infringement.
Moreover, Allgenesis also claimed injury based on the PTAB's priority determination, asserting that it would impact the scope of its patent rights.
The court rejected this argument, emphasising that Allgenesis did not express specifically how the Board's decision would impact its issued patents or pending applications.
The court stated that Allgenesis had failed to establish a concrete injury, and as a result, dismissed the appeal on November 7.
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