Court Broadens Judge-Created Rule Targeting ‘Double Patenting’

The Federal Circuit expanded the scope of a judicially crafted rule for invalidating certain patents—specifically, those issued for only minor or obvious variations to a previous patent that are given a later expiration date due to processing delays.

Cellect LLC appealed a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board nixing four imaging tech patents on the grounds of “obviousness-type double patenting” or ODP. It argued that the tribunal improperly broadened the reach of ODP and, in the process, erroneously punished patent owners whose patent terms have been lengthened under a statutory Patent Term Adjustment, or PTA, due to agency ...