Federal Circuit affirms invalidation of Maryland University patent

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has backed a ruling by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) which invalidated a patent owned by the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute.

In a decision handed down on Friday, November 3, a three-judge panel backed the finding that US patent number 6,673,532, which covers methods of measuring parameters in cell culture, was obvious.

A USPTO examiner had found some of the patent claims to be obvious.

Medical equipment manufacturer PreSens Precision Sensing then petitioned for inter partes re-examination of the ‘532 patent, with the USPTO then granting the petition.

After the examiner stated that the patent was obvious, they were backed by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

According to the Federal Circuit, the board concluded that it would have been obvious to arrange “more than one sensor inside a cultivation vessel and [use] the light excitation and detection means” described in another prior art reference.

This led to an appeal to the Federal Circuit by Maryland University, however the court ruled in the USPTO’s favour.

“We have considered Maryland’s remaining arguments and find them unpersuasive,” said Federal Circuit judge Alan Lourie.

He said the board did not err in concluding that the combination of two references renders the claims of the ‘532 patent obvious.

Did you enjoy reading this story?  Sign up to our free newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.