‘In re Cellect’:

How Patent Owners Can Protect Themselves From Obviousness-Type Double Patenting Invalidity Determinations

March 22, 2024

The recent case of In re Cellect, No. 22-1293 (Fed. Cir. 2023) serves as a warning to patent owners who rely too heavily on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to completely and accurately examine their patent applications. In Cellect, the USPTO’s failure to issue an obviousness-type double patenting (ODP) rejection during prosecution, combined with a grant of Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 154(b), led to the invalidation of Cellect LLC’s patents. This article presents patent owners with several options to consider to avoid a fate similar to Cellect.

The articles on our website include some of the publications and papers authored by our attorneys, both before and after they joined our firm. The content of these articles should not be taken as legal advice. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or official position of Robins Kaplan LLP.

Disclaimer
Back to Top