United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
2007-1223
ORTHO-MCNEIL PHARMACEUTICAL, INC.,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
MYLAN LABORATORIES, INC.,
and MYLAN PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.,
Defendants-Appellants.
Harry J. Roper, Jenner & Block LLP, of Chicago, Illinois, argued for plaintiff-
appellee. With him on the brief were Aaron A. Barlow and Eric L. Lohrenz, of Chicago,
Illinois, and Marc A. Goldman, of Washington, DC.
David J. Harth, Heller Ehrman LLP, of Madison, Wisconsin, argued for defendants-
appellants. With him on the brief were Randy J. Kozel, of Madison, Wisconsin, and
Shannon M. Bloodworth, of Washington, DC.
Appealed from: United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
Judge Stanley R. Chesler
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
2007-1223
ORTHO-MCNEIL PHARMACEUTICAL, INC.,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
MYLAN LABORATORIES, INC.,
and MYLAN PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
Defendants-Appellants.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in case no.
04-CV-1689, Judge Stanley R. Chesler.
___________________________
DECIDED: March 31, 2008
___________________________
Before MICHEL, Chief Judge, RADER and LINN, Circuit Judges.
RADER, Circuit Judge.
The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey permanently
enjoined Mylan Laboratories, Inc. from infringing Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc.'s
U.S. Patent No. 4,513,006 ('006). The '006 patent claims the anticonvulsive drug
topiramate. The trial court also reset the effective approval date for Mylan's Abbreviated
New Drug Application (ANDA). Because the district court correctly ruled on claim
construction, inequitable conduct, obviousness, and enablement, and because the
district court did not err in resetting the effective date of Mylan's ANDA under 35 U.S.C.
§ 271(e)(4)(A), this court affirms.
I
Topiramate (marketed by Ortho-McNeil as TOPOMAX® ) is a significant epilepsy
drug with sales exceeding $1 billion annually. Ortho-McNeil scientist Dr. Bruce
Maryanoff invented this pharmaceutical during a search for new antidiabetic drugs.
Topiramate is a reaction intermediate in the synthesis Dr. Maryanoff ran as part of his
antidiabetic efforts. Unexpectedly, Dr. Maryanoff discovered that this particular
intermediate had powerful anticonvulsant properties. After extensive testing, clinical
trials, and substantial investment, Ortho-McNeil showed that the compound was safe
and effective leading to FDA approval.
This cause of action arose under the Hatch-Waxman Act. 21 U.S.C. § 355.
Under that Act, Mylan filed an ANDA with the FDA with a paragraph IV certification
asserting that Ortho-McNeil's '006 patent is invalid or not infringed. Within 45 days,
Ortho-McNeil filed an infringement suit under 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(2) against Mylan thus
triggering the 30-month stay on approval of Mylan's ANDA.
After a Markman proceeding to set the meaning of the claim terms, the district
court rejected Mylan's position that claim 1 of the '006 patent does not cover topiramate.
Indeed, in light of the district court's claim construction ruling, Mylan stipulated that its
generic topiramate infringes claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11 and 12 of the '006 patent. On
summary judgment, the trial court also ruled against Mylan's affirmative defenses of
unenforceability due to inequitable conduct and invalidity based on obviousness and
non-enablement. After entry of final judgment, Mylan now appeals the district court's
claim construction as well as the dismissal of its affirmative defenses of inequitable
conduct, obviousness, and non-enablement.
2007-1223 2
II
This court reviews a grant of summary judgment without deference. Johns
Hopkins Univ. v. Cellpro, Inc., 152 F.3d 1342, 1353 (Fed. Cir. 1998). This court must
decide for itself "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and
admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine
issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a
matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322
(1986). In deciding these questions, this court draws all justifiable inferences in the
nonmovant's favor. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986). This
court also reviews claim construction as a matter of law without deference. Cybor Corp.
v. FAS Techs., Inc., 138 F.3d 1448, 1456 (Fed. Cir. 1998) (en banc).
Mylan argues that the district court improperly construed the word and to mean
or in independent claim 1, and under the proper construction, the claim does not cover
topiramate. In light of the plain language of independent claim 1, several dependent
claims, the specification, and the extrinsic evidence, this court sustains the trial court's
ruling that, in the circumstances of this case, claim 1's use of the term and means or.
Claim 1 of the '006 patent states:
1. A sulfamate of the following formula (I):
wherein
X is oxygen;
R1 is hydrogen or alkyl; and
R2, R3, R4 and R5 are independently hydrogen or
lower alkyl and R2 and R3 and/or R4 and R5 to-
gether may be a group of the following formula (II):
2007-1223 3
wherein
R6 and R7 are the same or different and are hydrogen,
lower alkyl or are alkyl and are joined to form a
cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl ring.
Topiramate has the following structure:
In the molecule topiramate, R2 and R3 and R4 and R5 together are a group of
formula (II), wherein R6 and R7 are methyl. Mylan argues that the use of the term and
precludes the claim from encompassing topiramate. In context, the term and falls
between several R group recitations:
R2, R3, R4, and R5 are independently hydrogen or lower alkyl and R2 and
R3 and/or R4 and R5 together may be a group of formula (II) (emphasis
added).
On this basis, Mylan argues that the phrase quoted above contains two
independent claim limitations: (1) that "R2, R3, R4, and R5 are independently hydrogen
or lower alkyl" and (2) that "R2 and R3 and/or R4 and R5 together may be a group of
formula (II)." Under Mylan’s construction, both of these limitations must be met in order
for a compound to infringe. Both of these limitations are not met in topiramate. None of
the R2, R3, R4, and R5 subunits are hydrogen or lower alkyl because both R2 and R3
and R4 and R5 together are a group of formula (II).
To the contrary, the claim language depicts two subsets of compounds, but does
not require their simultaneous existence. In one subset of compounds covered by claim
2007-1223 4
1, the groups R2, R3, R4, and R5 are independent of one another, in which case,
according to the claim, they are either hydrogen or lower alkyl. In a second subset of
compounds covered by claim 1, the R2 through R5 groups are not independent, but
rather R2 and R3 are together, and/or R4 and R5 are together, to form either one or two
groups of formula (II). Topiramate is an example of this type of compound. In it, R2
and R3 are arranged together in a group, as are R4 and R5. Thus, as used in this
claim, and conjoins mutually exclusive possibilities.
The claim also does not use and in isolation but in a larger context that clarifies
its meaning. Specifically, and appears in conjunction with the adverbs independently
and together. As the district court explained, these terms signal that and links
alternatives that occur under the different conditions of independence or togetherness.
In context, it is clear that one of the subunits (R2, R3, R4, or R5) does not always have
to be either a hydrogen or lower alkyl.
The larger context of this patent also supports this claim meaning. Construing
claim 1 to require a conjunctive meaning of and would render several dependent claims
meaningless. Claims 2, 5, 9, and 10 would cover nothing if the and at issue must be
conjunctive. This court has explained: "Other claims of the patent in question . . . can
also be valuable sources of enlightenment as to the meaning of a claim term." Phillips
v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1314 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (en banc) (citing Vitronics Corp. v.
Conceptronic Inc., 90 F.3d 1576, 1582 (Fed. Cir. 2003)). Thus, this court strives to
reach a claim construction that does not render claim language in dependent claims
meaningless. Rambus Inc. v. Infineon Tech. AG, 318 F.3d 1081, 1093 (Fed. Cir. 2003).
2007-1223 5
The specification also supports the district court's reading of and. The
specification thus uses the word and to link alternative chemical structures. In column 1
lines 47-50 the specification provides:
R2, R3, R4 and R5 are independently hydrogen or lower alkyl and, when
X is CH2, R4 and R5 may be alkene groups joined to form a benzene ring
and when X is oxygen, R2 and R3 and/or R4 and R5 together may be a
methylenedioxy group of the following formula II . . . .
(emphases added). Without question, this passage within the specification shows use
of the word and to join alternatives.
While extrinsic evidence "can shed useful light on the relevant art," this court
considers such evidence "less significant than the intrinsic record in determining 'the
legally operative meaning of claim language.'" Phillips, 415 F.3d at 1317 (citations
omitted). Because the plain language of claim 1, the dependent claims, and the
specification support the district court's reading, this court does not need to consult
extrinsic evidence. Nonetheless, this court notes that dictionary definitions of and, while
most often listing the additive sense as the most common usage of the term, also show
usage of the term to connote alternatives. Webster's Third New International Dictionary
(2002). In the circumstances of this case, the use of and to express alternatives was
chosen and adequately expressed by the applicant. Thus, extrinsic evidence too offers
support for the district court's reading of the disputed term.
In Chef America Inc. v. Lamb-Weston, Inc., this court explained that a patent
must be interpreted "as written, not as the patentees wish they had written it." 358 F.3d
1371, 1374 (Fed. Cir. 2004). In other words, courts may not redraft claims, whether to
make them operable or to sustain their validity. Id. Even "a nonsensical result does not
2007-1223 6
require the court to redraft the claims of the . . . patent." Id. (citing Process Control
Corp. v. HydReclaim Corp., 190 F.3d 1350, 1357 (Fed. Cir. 1999)). However, Chef
America does not require this court or the district court to interpret and according to its
most common usage in the dictionary. To the contrary, this court and the district court
must interpret the term to give proper meaning to the claim in light of the language and
intrinsic evidence. Giving and its most common dictionary meaning would produce in
this case the nonsensical result of not covering topiramate and rendering several other
dependent claims meaningless. In Chef America, the only possible interpretation of the
claim led to a nonsensical result. This situation is distinguishable because claim 1 can
and should be interpreted as the patentees intended, with the meaning of and connoting
alternatives.
In sum, the district court properly interpreted the claim. This court detects no
error in its claim construction.
III
Mylan accuses Ortho-McNeil of committing inequitable conduct by failing to
disclose the results of non-public tests it conducted on the prior art Kochetkov
compounds to the Patent Office. In fact, the applicant submitted the Kochetkov
references themselves, but not results from the tests that Dr. Maryanoff conducted on
the compounds. Mylan says that Ortho-McNeil's statements about the Kochetkov
references during prosecution were inconsistent with Ortho-McNeil's own information
that the compounds had anticonvulsant properties. During prosecution, Ortho-McNeil
said the following:
It should be noted that the utility disclosed in the Kochetkov references
AR-AU is extremely limited and narrow. These compounds are merely
2007-1223 7
taught as being convenient derivatives of monosaccharide sulfates to
allow separation of such sulfates from each other with regeneration of the
original sulfate thereafter. No teaching is provided for any actual utility of
the sulfamates or sulfates described in AR-AU and it is respectfully
submitted that there is no motivation for one skilled in the art reading AR-
AU to go beyond the pyranoses disclosed therein to arrive at Applicant's
invention.
Mylan claims that this was a misrepresentation because in-house test results
demonstrated that the Kochetkov compounds had anticonvulsive properties. To the
contrary, the district court found, and this court agrees, that Ortho-McNeil did not make
misrepresentations to the Patent Office during prosecution. The quoted passage
merely accurately characterizes the references as claiming limited utility for the
Kochetkov compounds. Ortho-McNeil made no assertions about the compounds
themselves, but only repeated the disclosures of the Kochetkov references.
The same observation applies to the sentence following the passage quoted
above:
As explained above, the pyranoses of AR-AU are entirely different in
structure and use than the pyranoses of the present invention, and given
the minimal usefulness of the AR-AU compounds, it would not be obvious
to one skilled in the art to go beyond AR-AU to the pyranose structures of
the present invention.
Again, as the opening phrase of the above quote confirms, the applicant is repeating the
disclosures of the Kochetcov references, not characterizing the compounds themselves.
Read in context, the Kochetkov references do not disclose any utility. On this point, the
applicant is correct. Moreover, the applicant did not assert that the compounds
themselves possess no utility. Thus, Ortho-McNeil made no misrepresentations to the
Patent Office. Accordingly the district court correctly dismissed Mylan's affirmative
defense of inequitable conduct.
2007-1223 8
IV
Dr. Laurens Anderson, Mylan's expert, asserts that a person of ordinary skill in
the art faced with finding a diabetes drug (as Dr. Maryannoff was) would necessarily
design an FBPase inhibitor. Mylan cites KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., for the
proposition that "[w]hen there is a design need or market pressure to solve a problem
and there are a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, a person of ordinary
skill has good reason to pursue the known options within his or her technical grasp."
127 S. Ct. 1727, 1742 (2007). The record, however, shows that even if an ordinarily
skilled artisan sought an FBPase inhibitor, that person would not have chosen
topiramate. Moreover this invention, contrary to Mylan's characterization, does not
present a finite (and small in the context of the art) number of options easily traversed to
show obviousness. The passage above in KSR posits a situation with a finite, and in
the context of the art, small or easily traversed, number of options that would convince
an ordinarily skilled artisan of obviousness. In this case, the record shows that a person
of ordinary skill would not even be likely to start with 2,3:4,5 di-isopropylidene fructose
(DPF), as Dr. Maryanoff did. Beyond that step, however, the ordinarily skilled artisan
would have to have some reason to select (among several unpredictable alternatives)
the exact route that produced topiramate as an intermediate. Even beyond that, the
ordinary artisan in this field would have had to (at the time of invention without any clue
of potential utility of topiramate) stop at that intermediate and test it for properties far
afield from the purpose for the development in the first place (epilepsy rather than
diabetes). In sum, this clearly is not the easily traversed, small and finite number of
2007-1223 9
alternatives that KSR suggested might support an inference of obviousness. Id. at
1742.
In other words, Mylan's expert, Dr. Anderson, simply retraced the path of the
inventor with hindsight, discounted the number and complexity of the alternatives, and
concluded that the invention of topiramate was obvious. Of course, this reasoning is
always inappropriate for an obviousness test based on the language of Title 35 that
requires the analysis to examine "the subject matter as a whole" to ascertain if it "would
have been obvious at the time the invention was made." 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) (emphasis
added). In retrospect, Dr. Maryanoff's pathway to the invention, of course, seems to
follow the logical steps to produce these properties, but at the time of invention, the
inventor's insights, willingness to confront and overcome obstacles, and yes, even
serendipity, cannot be discounted.
Speaking before KSR, the district court endorsed a "rigorous application" of the
teaching, suggestion, or motivation (TSM) test. In KSR, the Supreme Court explained
that a "rigid" TSM test "is incompatible with our precedents." KSR, 127 S. Ct. at 1741.
Mylan thus contends that the district court erred by rigorously applying the TSM test.
The Supreme Court explained its reason for castigating a "rigid" TSM test: "The
obviousness analysis cannot be confined by a formalistic conception of the words
teaching, suggestion, and motivation, or by overemphasis on the importance of
published articles and the explicit content of issued patents." Id. Indeed a rigid
requirement of reliance on written prior art or patent references would, as the Supreme
Court noted, unduly confine the use of the knowledge and creativity within the grasp of
an ordinarily skilled artisan. Id. at 1742.
2007-1223 10
As this court has explained, however, a flexible TSM test remains the primary
guarantor against a non-statutory hindsight analysis such as occurred in this case. In re
Translogic Tech., Inc., 504 F.3d 1249, 1257 (Fed. Cir. 2007) ("[A]s the Supreme Court
suggests, a flexible approach to the TSM test prevents hindsight and focuses on
evidence before the time of invention."). The TSM test, flexibly applied, merely assures
that the obviousness test proceeds on the basis of evidence – teachings, suggestions (a
tellingly broad term), or motivations (an equally broad term) – that arise before the time
of invention as the statute requires. As KSR requires, those teachings, suggestions, or
motivations need not always be written references but may be found within the
knowledge and creativity of ordinarily skilled artisans.
In this case, the record amply supports the district court's finding of
nonobviousness. This court detects no rigid application of the evidentiary requirements
for obviousness in the district court's analysis. As noted above, the challenges of this
inventive process would have prevented one of ordinary skill in this art from traversing
the multiple obstacles to easily produce the invention in light of the evidence available at
the time of invention. Of particular importance beyond the prima facie analysis, this
court also detects evidence of objective criteria showing nonobviousness. Specifically,
the record shows powerful unexpected results (anticonvulsive activity) for topiramate.
The record also shows skepticism of experts and copying – other respected sources of
objective evidence of nonobviousness – as well as commercial success. As this court
has repeatedly explained, this evidence is not just a cumulative or confirmatory part of
the obviousness calculus but constitutes independent evidence of nonobviousness.
Catalina Lighting, Inc. v. Lamps Plus, Inc., 295 F.3d 1277, 1288 (Fed. Cir. 2002)
2007-1223 11
("Objective indicia may often be the most probative and cogent evidence of
nonobviousness in the record.") (internal citation omitted). See also Pharmastem
Therapeutics Inc. v. Viacell, Inc., 491 F.3d 1342; Eli Lilly & Co. v. Zenith Goldline
Pharms., Inc., 471 F.3d 1369.
Mylan asserts that method of use claims 6-8 are also obvious. But if claim 1 is
not obvious then claims 6-8 also cannot be obvious because they all depend from a
nonobvious claim. In re Fritch, 972 F.2d 1260, 1266 (Fed. Cir. 1992) ("[D]ependent
claims are nonobvious if the independent claims from which they depend are
nonobvious."). Accordingly, the method of use claims are nonobvious as well.
V
Mylan asserts that claims 6-8 are not enabled because an anticonvulsively
effective amount is unclear and its determination would require undue experimentation.
A specification that enables an invention will teach those ordinarily skilled in the art to
make and use the full scope of the claimed invention without undue experimentation.
Genentech Inc. v. Novo Nordisk of N. Am. Inc., 108 F.3d 1361, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 1997).
The '006 specification discloses that the average adult requires 30-2000
milligrams of the claimed compounds administered in two to four doses of 10-500
milligrams. The specification also teaches a skilled artisan to use the claimed
compounds in a manner similar to the drug phenytoin. Further the specification directs
the reader to a reference by L.S. Goodman, which teaches that after establishment of a
low initial dose, the dosage is increased at appropriate intervals as required for control
of seizures or as limited by toxicity with further adjustments according to plasma drug
concentrations. L.S. Goodman, et al., The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 201-
2007-1223 12
26 (5th ed. 1975). This court sustains the district court's judgment that this disclosure
adequately enables claims 6-8. Further, even if clinical trials informed the
anticonvulsively effective amount, this record does not show that extensive or "undue"
tests would be required to practice the invention. The district court was correct in
summarily dismissing Mylan's non-enablement defense.
VI
When a generic manufacturer files an ANDA with a paragraph IV certification,
Hatch-Waxman grants the brand name pharmaceutical manufacturer a 30-month stay in
the approval of that ANDA within which to litigate its case. 21 U.S.C. § 355(j)(5)(B)(iii).
At the expiration of the 30 months, the ANDA is automatically approved unless the court
grants a preliminary injunction or finds infringement. Because neither of those two
events occurred before expiration of 30 months, the FDA approved Mylan's ANDA by
operation of law. Therefore, after determining infringement, the district court reset the
effective date of approval pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(4)(A), which provides:
(4) For an act of infringement described in paragraph (2)
(A) the court shall order the effective date of any approval of
the drug or veterinary biological product involved in the
infringement to be a date which is not earlier than the date of
the expiration of the patent which has been infringed.
Although the statute does not expressly reset the effective date when the 30-
month stay expires before the patent is found to be infringed or a preliminary injunction
granted, the statute, as informed by its legislative history, supports the district court's
action of resetting the effective date. The House Report accompanying the Hatch-
Waxman Act explains: "[I]n the case where an ANDA had been approved, the order
2007-1223 13
would mandate a change in the effective date." H.R. Rep. No. 98-857, at 46 (1984),
reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2647, 2679.
Mylan argues that the district court's order is inconsistent with 21 U.S.C.
§ 355(j)(5)(B)(iii), which lays out two measures for delaying an ANDA's approval:
21 U.S.C. § 355(j)(5)(B)(iii)(II)(bb) provides: if the district court decides
that the patent has been infringed before the expiration of the 30 month
period, then the FDA's approval shall be made effective on the date
specified by the district court in a court order under 35 U.S.C.
§ 271(e)(4)(A).
21 U.S.C. § 355(j)(5)(B)(iii)(IV) provides: if before the expiration of [the 30
month stay] the court grants a preliminary judgment . . . and if the court
decides that such patent has been infringed then the approval shall be
made effective as in subclause (II).
The district court, however, did not ignore these express conditions when
resetting the effective date. Considering 35 U.S.C. § 271, the district court correctly
discerned that the provisions quoted above do not limit the authority of the district court
to reset the effective date in circumstances similar to those statutorily listed as indeed
suggested by the legislative history for the provision. Indeed 21 U.S.C. § 355 does not
limit a court's authority to reset for conditions other than those listed. This provision,
directed at the FDA, instructs the agency regarding its responsibilities to process an
ANDA. This provision does not limit the court's authority as noted. The district court
was correct to reset the effective date of an ANDA directly under 35 U.S.C. § 271
without going through 21 U.S.C. § 355.
VII
In view of all the intrinsic and extrinsic evidence, the district court correctly
construed claim 1 to cover Ortho-McNeil's epilepsy drug topiramate. Accordingly, this
2007-1223 14
court affirms the district court's decision to permanently enjoin Mylan from infringing the
'006 patent. This court also affirms the dismissal of Mylan's invalidity defenses based
on obviousness, inequitable conduct, and non-enablement and finds no error in the
district court's decision to reset the effective date of Mylan's ANDA to a date not earlier
than the date of expiration of the patent.
AFFIRMED
2007-1223 15