Stanford wins appeal at CAFC in interference case

The outcome:


The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior
University (“Stanford”) appeals from orders of the Patent
Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) in three interference
proceedings between Stanford and the Chinese University
of Hong Kong (“CUHK”). In all of these proceedings, the
Board found that Stanford’s claims were unpatentable for
lack of written description. See Quake v. Lo, No. 105,920
(P.T.A.B. Apr. 7, 2014); Lo v. Quake, No. 105,923
(P.T.A.B. Apr. 7, 2014); Lo v. Quake, No. 105,924
(P.T.A.B. Apr. 7, 2014).1 Because we conclude that the
Board relied on improper evidence to support its key
findings and did not cite to other substantial evidence to
support its findings, we vacate the Board’s interference
decisions and remand for further proceedings.




Of written description:



Whether a patent claim satisfies the written description
requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph 1, depends
on whether the description “clearly allow[s] persons of
ordinary skill in the art to recognize that [the inventor]
invented what is claimed.” Vas-Cath Inc. v. Mahurkar,
935 F.2d 1555, 1562–63 (Fed. Cir. 1991) (internal quotation
marks omitted) (quoting In re Gosteli, 872 F.2d 1008,
1012 (Fed. Cir. 1989)).
[W]hatever the specific articulation, the test requires
an objective inquiry into the four corners of
the specification from the perspective of a person
of ordinary skill in the art. Based on that inquiry,
the specification must describe an invention understandable
to that skilled artisan and show that
the inventor actually invented the invention
claimed.
Ariad Pharm., Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co., 598 F.3d 1336, 1351
(Fed. Cir. 2010) (en banc).

(...)


For these reasons, we vacate the interference decisions
and remand for the Board to reconsider whether
Quake’s relevant patents and applications satisfy the
written description requirement. In re Nuvasive, Inc., 842
F.3d 1376, 1382 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (finding that the Board
must “make the necessary findings and have an adequate
‘evidentiary basis for its findings’” (quoting In re Lee, 277
F.3d 1338, 1344 (Fed. Cir. 2002)); Ariosa Diagnostics v.
Verinata Health, Inc., 805 F.3d 1359, 1365 (Fed. Cir.
2015) (“[W]e must not ourselves make factual and discretionary
determinations that are for the agency to make.”)
(citing In re Lee, 277 F.3d at 1342, Interstate Commerce
Comm’n v. Bhd. of Locomotive Eng’rs, 482 U.S. 270, 283
(1987), and Chenery, 332 U.S. at 196–97).