The invention here is a treatment claim — that is therefore patent eligible. 

by Dennis Crouch The decision here is an important case adding substantial nuance to the product and law of nature exceptions. Natural Alternatives Int’l. Inc. v. Creative Compounds, LLC (Fed. Cir. 2019) Earlier this week I wrote about a separate Natural Alternatives reexamination appeal pending before the US Supreme Court on the issue of improper priority claims. The case at hand focuses on patent eligibility.  Natural Alternatives sued Creative for infringing six of its patents covering various forms of the naturally-occurring compound beta-alanine and its use as a muscle-building supplement.  The district court dismissed the lawsuit on the pleadings for lack of eligibility — finding that the claims were directed toward a product of nature (beta-alanine) and a law of nature (that taking beta-alanine in sufficient quantities builds muscle). On appeal the Federal Circuit has sided with the patentee.  In an opinion written by Judge Moore and joined by…

Read more detail on Recent Intellectual Property Law posts –

This entry was posted in Intellectual Property and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply