Federal Circuit Leaves Alone Tribunal Decision on Suboxone Patent

A split Federal Circuit upheld a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision invalidating part of an Indivior UK Ltd. patent on Suboxone, a ruling one judge said ignored the court’s precedent.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories S.A. asked the PTAB to review Indivior’s U.S. Patent No. 9,687,454, and the board found several claims invalid because they were anticipated. The PTAB upheld one of the challenged claims.

The relevant patent claims include ingredient ranges. The dispute was whether there was written description support for the claimed ranges in an earlier Indivior application.

If the claims were supported, they were entitled to the same ...