The Top Patent Decisions of 2025

Deborah Sterling, Ph.D., director in Sterne Kessler’s Biotechnology & Chemical Practice Group, recently discussed with Law360 the top patent cases and decisions from 2025.

In Ingenico v. IOENGINE, the Federal Circuit determined that estoppel does not apply when an argument presented to the district court could not have been raised before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Sterling explained, “It helps [to] understand that it’s the grounds that matter. It’s not the evidence itself.”

In another notable Federal Circuit case, Healthgen v. International Trade Commission, the court clarified that there is no financial threshold required for a company to establish domestic industry. Sterling noted, “You don’t have to have any magic number of dollar investment into the U.S. The investment can be small as long as it’s the right proportion to the company’s overall economics.”