The Written Description Requirements of 35 U.S.C. §112 and Ariad Pharms. Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co.
Recently certain members of the patent law bar have expressed surprise that the Federal Circuit has used the written description requirements of 35 U.S.C. §112, first paragraph to invalidate patents such as the University of California’s patent directed to insulin in Regents of the University of California v. Eli Lilly & Co., and Genentech’s patent directed to production of human growth hormone in Genentech, Inc. v. Novo Nordisk A/S. This issue has come to the forefront again in Ariad’s pending per curiam appeal from the Federal Circuit decision in Ariad Pharms., Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co., vacated and rehearing en banc granted. Oral argument in the case was held on December 7, 2009. In the case under appeal, the Ariad patent was held not to meet the written description requirements of 35 U.S.C. §112, first paragraph.
The surprise of the patent bar to the Federal Circuit’s use of this written description requirement and the dual nature of this requirement to invalidate patents reminds me of the exclamation of the police chief in the movie Casablanca, upon being handed his winnings from roulette, “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here.” Written description and the dual requirements of 35 U.S.C. § 112 first paragraph for written description have been the bulwark of United States prosecution, especially interference practice for at least 35 years.
The Dual Requirements for Written Description Are Part of 35 U.S.C. §112
With respect to a patent specification, the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112 sets forth that the specification shall contain a written description of:
- the invention; and
- the manner of making and using the invention (the enablement requirement)
Therefore, there are two requirements set forth in this statute with respect to the written description, one as to the invention and the other as to enablement (the manner of making and using the invention). The case of In re Barker, 194 U.S.P.Q. 474 (C.C.P.A. 1977) explicitly articulated that 35 U.S.C. §112 first paragraph set forth these two separate requirements for written description. To provide a written description of the invention, the specification must include a written description of each and every element of the claimed subject matter. This was enunciated by the Federal Circuit in Lockwood v. American Airlines. In the Lockwood case, the Federal Circuit specifically stated that:
It is the disclosure of the application that counts. Enablement of a filing date does not extend to subject matter which is not disclosed but which would be obvious over what is expressly disclosed.
The Written Description Requirement Has Been The Backbone of U.S. Patent Law Well Before 1967
The requirement for written description was reiterated by the C.C.P.A. in In re Ruschig. In Ruschig, the C.C.P.A. specifically held that a description of a genus does not constitute a description of a claimed subgenus unless that specific claimed subgenus is specifically described in the specification. The Ruschig case was directed to whether the specification contained a written description of a specific claimed compound. The claimed compound in Ruschig had a phenyl group substituted with chlorine and the C.C.P.A., in a prosecution and interference setting, held that there was no written description of this compound even though the application disclosed that phenyl ring could be substituted with chlorine or bromine. Discussing the written description requirement of 35 U.S.C. §112, first paragraph, the C.C.P.A. stated as follows:
Appellants refer to 35 USC 112 as the presumed basis for this rejection and emphasize language therein about enabling one skilled in the art to make the invention, arguing therefrom that one skilled in the art would be enabled by the specification to make chlorpropamide. We find the argument unpersuasive — the question is not whether he would be so enabled but whether the specification disclosed the compound to him, specifically, as something appellants actually invented.
379 F.2d at 995.
Ariad May Not Affect the Law as to the Written Description Requirement and Its Dual Nature
The outcome of the per curiam appeal in the Ariad case may not affect the law as to the written description requirement and its dual nature because the appeal does not challenge these requirements for written description. The issue in Ariad is whether the describing of a claimed method which utilizes a compound to regulate by altering the transcription factor of specific genes to express proteins is sufficient to provide a written description for this method, even though no specific compound is disclosed for such regulation. Therefore, the Ariad application claims the use of any compound which provides a specific function and the issue is whether this description is sufficient for a written description of the invention and to enable the invention. The issue presented in Ariad is not directed to the fact that there is no new matter claimed which is not disclosed but whether the written description of the invention in chemical and biotech cases requires the definition of compounds by structure, formula, chemical name or physical properties and not by function. Therefore, the Ariad case never really challenges the basic requirements of 35 U.S.C. §112 for written description that, for at least 40 years, have and remain instrumental to the operation of the U.S. patent system.