In Allergan USA, Inc. et al., v. MSN Laboratories Private Ltd., et al., the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision relating to obviousness-type double patenting (“ODP”) and patent-term adjustments.  The Court held that a claim that is first-filed and first-issued, but later-expiring, cannot be found invalid under the ODP doctrine based on a later-filed, later-issued, but earlier-expiring reference claim that shares the same priority date with that of the challenged claim.

On December 27, 2019, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) issued an opinion affirming the decision of invalidity on obviousness grounds of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.  Persion Pharms. LLC v. Alvogen Malta Operations Ltd., __ F.3d __ (Fed. Cir. Dec. 27, 2019).  The CAFC found no clear error in the district court’s reliance on inherency in its analysis or in its factual findings.