Xarelto Ruling Exposes Limits of Patents Tied to Drug Trials

An appeals court decision striking down claims from a patent for a blockbuster drug that rested on language touting its efficacy offers attorneys a cautionary note about relying on broad or functional patents claims across industries.

In a Sept. 23 precedential opinion, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit invalidated as anticipated and obvious claims in Bayer AG’s US Patent No. 10,828,310, covering the use of its Xarelto blood-thinning drug with aspirin to reduce cardiovascular risk.

Bayer had sought to salvage the claims by pointing to language that the method was “clinically proven effective,” but the ...