The new European Union Unified Patent Court (UPC) and Unitary Patent go live on June 1, 2023. Enterprises operating in Europe should understand the risks and rewards of this new system, one of the most significant developments in global intellectual property law in over a decade. Read our IP Hot Topic to learn more.

On May 18, 2023, the Court issued its long-awaited decision in The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith. The decision is notable for at least two reasons. First, it is the first time the Court has considered whether a visual work qualifies as transformative use. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the decision shifts the focus of the transformative use assessment to the first part of the Campbell inquiry: “whether the new work merely supersede[s] the objects of the original creation.”

The US Supreme Court issued its opinion in Amgen v. Sanofi, a closely watched case concerning patent law’s enablement requirement. Under that requirement, codified at 35 U.S.C. § 112(a), a patent specification must enable a person skilled in the relevant art “to make and use” the invention. In a unanimous decision, the Court affirmed the Federal Circuit’s ruling that the Amgen patent claims at issue are not enabled.

In a Federal Circuit victory secured by Sterne Kessler, Teva Pharmaceuticals is cleared to market a generic version of sleep disorder drug Hetlioz, as reported by Law360 in the article “Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Vanda's Sleep Disorder Patent Claims.” The ruling affirmed the district judge’s opinion that invalidated four patents on the medication. The team representing Teva includes Directors J.C. Rozendaal, Deirdre Wells, Byron Pickard, and William Milliken and Associates Sasha Rao and Will Rodenberg.

As reported by Law360 in the article “VW Gets PTAB To Review Patent Cited in Car Tech MDL,” the PTAB has instituted Volkswagen’s inter partes review petition challenging the validity of a cellular technology patent. Directors Ryan Richardson, Michael Specht, and Daniel Yonan and Associate David Haars are mentioned as Volkswagen’s representation.