Case: Patents/JMOL (Fed. Cir.)

The Federal Circuit reversed the decision of a federal district court in Texas denying Daiichi Sankyo Co., AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, and AstraZeneca UK Ltd. judgment as a matter of law after a jury found that claims of Seagen’s patent that discloses monomethylvaline compounds capable of conjugation to ligands weren’t invalid. The appeals court said that the jury didn’t have substantial evidence to conclude that the patent provided written description support for what it claimed or that it was enabled, and it vacated the jury’s finding of willful infringement and assessment of damages.