Posts Tagged: "tangential"

IP Community: Raising Autism Awareness

It is important for employers to be open-minded when considering employing someone with autism or other disabilities. Those who are open-minded will find employees who are diligent, hard-working, and who take extreme pride in their jobs. Services exist for employers who are open-minded to potentially hiring a person with autism, but are concerned with how to hire or train someone with autism.

Federal Circuit Again Rules Equivalent Foreseeable in Duramed

In Duramed, the invention claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,638 (the “’638 patent”) involved a conjugated estrogen pharmaceutical compositions for use in hormone replacement therapies. The critical aspect of the claimed invention was the moisture barrier coating (MBC) which surrounded the composition. Claim 7 (which depended from independent Claim 1) specified that this MBC “comprises ethylcellulose.” During patent prosecution, the examiner rejected both Claims 1 and 7 for obviousness under 35 U.S.C. § 103. As a result of an interview with the examiner, Claim 1 was amended to include the recitation in Claim 7, and in due course, the ‘638 patent issued. Sounds to me like a classical instance of prosecution history estoppel coming into play and barring any application of the doctrine of equivalents.