My Amicus Brief Has Been Filed in Ariad v. Lilly

I have filed an amicus brief in Ariad v. Lilly in support of neither party but arguing against the Lilly Written Description Requirement (LWD), available here.

My brief essentially argues that LWD has been applied by the courts and PTO in an arbitrary and inconsistent manner that lacks any rational basis in law, science, or policy, and in a manner that can effectively preclude some biotechnological inventors from obtaining adequate patent protection for their inventions, particularly inventions relating to proteins and DNA. My arguments dovetail in large part with those made by Novozymes in the brief they filed a couple days ago.

My colleagues Mark Janis (Indiana University) and Tim Holbrook (Emory University) have filed their own amici brief, arguing that there is no independent written description requirement, and that enablement is the proper and only doctrinal tool for policing claim scope and for determining whether a disclosure supports later added claims.