In Amgen-Sanofi Decision, High Court Sticks to Patent Law Script

The US Supreme Court’s decision in a fight over two Amgen Inc. patents affirmed the narrow scope of a patent law requirement known as enablement, allowing more pharmaceutical companies to keep competing in the same areas of research and development.

The high court sided with Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. in their dispute with Amgen over cholesterol drugs by adhering to a strict reading of US patent law and clarifying how specific a patent must be to be valid.

The ruling makes it harder for a single company to monopolize one area of research through a broadly defined patent. It ...