Ferring B.V. v. Barr Laboratories, Inc.

Decision Date15 February 2006
Docket NumberNo. 05-1284.,05-1284.
PartiesFERRING B.V. and AVENTIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. BARR LABORATORIES, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit

Dennis J. Mondolino, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP, of New York, New York, argued for plaintiff-appellant Ferring B.V. With him on the brief were Stephen B. Judlowe, Esther H. Steinhauer, Edward M. Reisner, Jeffrey M. Gold, and Timothy P. Heaton.

Gerald Sobel, Kaye Scholer LLP, of New York, New York, argued for plaintiff-appellant Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. With him on the brief were Aaron Stiefel and Daniel P. DiNapoli.

Daniel F. Attridge, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, of Washington, DC, argued for defendant-appellee. With him on the brief were Edward C. Donovan, Charanjit Brahma, John T. Battaglia, and John C. O'Quinn.

Before NEWMAN, MAYER, and DYK, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the court by Circuit Judge DYK.

Dissent by Circuit Judge NEWMAN.

DYK, Circuit Judge.

Ferring B.V. ("Ferring") and Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Aventis") brought suit against Barr Laboratories, Inc. ("Barr") for infringement of Ferring's patent, U.S. Patent No. 5,407,398 (filed Dec. 17, 1985) ("'398 patent"). Barr moved for summary judgment, arguing that the '398 patent was unenforceable due to inequitable conduct and, alternatively, that Barr did not infringe the '398 patent. The district court granted summary judgment on both grounds. We affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment on the ground that the patent is unenforceable due to inequitable conduct, and we do not reach the issue of infringement.

BACKGROUND

Ferring patented a medicinal compound and a method of administering said compound. Specifically, claim one of Ferring's '398 patent (the independent composition claim) claimed an "antidiuretic composition for humans comprising a gastrointestinally absorbable, antidiuretically effective, amount of [the peptide] 1-deamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier in solid oral dosage form for absorption in the gastrointestinal tract of said humans." '398 patent at col.4 l.23-29. 1-deamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin and other compounds were known in the art to prevent the diuretic symptoms associated with diabetes when they were absorbed through the walls of the patient's mouth via a dissolving tablet, or through the patient's nasal passage via a liquid spray or plastic tube. However, such modes of administering the medicine proved cumbersome and time-consuming. Therefore, the claimed solid oral dosage form of the compound and method of administering it were thought to be an improvement over the prior art, because the medicine was designed to be simply swallowed and absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract. As the inequitable conduct claim arises from the prosecution history of the '398 patent, we will begin there.

I

On December 17, 1985, Hans Vilhardt and Helmer Hagstam filed an application for the '398 patent.1 On May 28, 1986, Vilhardt and his counsel appeared at a preliminary interview conducted by Examiners Moyer and Stone at the Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO"). At the interview, the examiners discussed certain prior art references, including U.S. Patent No. 3,497,491 (filed Sept. 14, 1967) ("'491 patent" or "Zaoral patent"). Ferring was the exclusive licensee of the '491 patent until its expiration in 1987. The '491 patent taught, for antidiuretic purposes, that "1-deamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin" "may be used . . . for the parenteral, peroral, intranasal, subcutaneous, intramuscular, or intravenous application." '491 patent at col.3 l.15-23, col.5 l.15-20 (emphasis added). The examiners were concerned that the '491 patent's disclosure of the "peroral" application of the peptide may have suggested the oral administration of the peptide for gastrointestinal absorption. Vilhardt argued that the term "peroral" as used in the '491 patent did not teach the oral administration of the peptide for gastrointestinal absorption, but rather for absorption through the walls of the mouth. As the examiners were not entirely convinced, they "suggested that applicants obtain evidence from a non-inventor" to support their interpretation of the term "peroral." J.A. at 3460 (emphasis added).

In response, on June 12, 1986, Vilhardt, through his counsel, submitted four declarations including two from Vilhardt himself, one from a Dr. Myron Miller, and one from a Dr. Paul Czernichow. These declarations each relayed the writer's scientific belief that the term "peroral" in the '491 patent meant that the compound could be administered "through the mouth," but only for absorption through the cheek of the mouth or under the tongue. However, the declarations failed to disclose that Czernichow had been receiving research funding from Ferring from 1985-86.2 Specifically, Czernichow received research funding to conduct a clinical investigation relating to a particular drug (DDAVP) preparation.

Despite the declarations, on November 13, 1986, the examiners rejected certain claims of the '398 patent as anticipated or obvious over the '491 patent. The rejection stated: "As Applicants are the exclusive licensee of the Zaoral ['491] patent, it is obviously expeditious for Applicants to argue that `peroral' referred to in the ['491] patent referred only to sublingual or buccal routes, whereas the instant mode of administration excludes such routes as it involves absorption by the gastrointestinal tract." J.A. at 4390.

The inventors requested reconsideration after which a new examiner, Examiner Siegel, reaffirmed the rejections. Examiner Siegel stated that the '491 patent "clearly teaches orally administering said vasopressin," and that "oral administering of a drug . . . unambiguously means gastrointestinal absor[p]tion." J.A. at 3067.

On November 13, 1987, the inventors appealed this rejection to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences ("Board"). On September 21, 1990, the Board accepted the declarants' view that, as a general rule, the "peroral" administration of a peptide would not be read in the art as suggesting the administration for gastrointestinal absorption. This is because peptides are normally "hydrolyzed in the stomach and it would be expected that their biological activities would be lost" prior to gastrointestinal absorption. J.A. at 3688. Thus, the '491 reference standing alone would not anticipate the applicant's claims regarding the peroral administration of the peptide. However, the Board determined that the applicants' claims were obvious over the '491 patent in light of an article written by Ivan Vavra in 1973. Vavra disclosed that 1-deamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin is structurally unique among peptides in that it does not degrade quickly. The Board found that although the term "peroral" may not usually suggest the gastrointestinal absorption of a peptide, the '491 patent's disclosure of the "peroral" administration of 1-deamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin, when combined with Vavra's disclosure that this peptide is slow to degrade, would render the applicant's claims obvious. The Board thus affirmed the examiners' obviousness rejection. However, because the examiners had not relied on the Vavra reference, the Board designated its decision as "a new rejection under the provisions of 37 C.F.R. [§] 1.196(b)," and explained that the applicant could "elect to have further prosecution before the examiner in response to the new rejection. . . ." J.A. at 3690.

The inventors opted to go back to the examiners. On November 21, 1990, the inventors submitted five more declarations to persuade the examiners that the Vavra reference would not, when read with the '491 patent, suggest the gastrointestinal absorption of the peptide. As before, the inventors submitted declarations from Vilhardt, Miller, and Czernichow. They also submitted declarations from a Dr. lain Robinson and a Dr. Tomislav Barth. Each of these declarations explained why, in the declarant's own professional judgment, the Vavra reference did not suggest that the peptide could be absorbed gastrointestinally. Just as before, the inventors did not inform the examiners that Czernichow had been receiving funds from Ferring.3 This time, however, they also failed to inform the examiners that Robinson (one of the new declarants) had been Ferring's pre-clinical research director from 1985-1986 and a paid consultant for Ferring from 1986-1989. While Robinson was the research director at Ferring, Ferring was funding Vilhardt's research involving the peptide at issue. The inventors also did not disclose that Barth (another new declarant) worked on several projects funded by Ferring between 1984 and 1987. Barth also worked intermittently with Vilhardt on some small projects between 1988 and 2000, although it is unclear from Barth's testimony whether this research was funded by Ferring. Neither Robinson's nor Barth's declarations was accompanied with a Curriculum Vitae ("CV"). Czernichow's declaration did include an extensive CV. However, it did not mention his research with Ferring.

Vilhardt communicated with each of these declarants before their declarations were submitted to the PTO. Vilhardt also sent Barth a "draft declaration." While it is unclear exactly what was contained in the draft declaration, Vilhardt admitted that he gave Barth "some lines," telling him "what he should describe in the affidavit." J.A. at 5544. Vilhardt also sent Robinson a "draft declaration."

In sum, four of the five declarations submitted to the PTO in 1990 were written by scientists who had been employed or had received research funds from Ferring, and Vilhardt participated in the drafting of two of the four declarations submitted by non-inventors. The examiners were not otherwise made aware of the Ferring connections. After these declarations were submitted, the examiners allowed the previously rejected claims, and the '398 patent issued on ...

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