Cotter Quoted in National Law Journal on Patent Law's Written Description Requirement

Professor Thomas Cotter was quoted in the National Law Journal, in a story titled "Federal Circuit Ponders How to Write Patents: Court Will Sit En Banc to Review Its Written Description Rule." The article discusses a recent order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to rehear en banc a case, Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co., in order to reconsider whether section 112 of the Patent Act imposes a separate "written description" requirement in addition to the enablement requirement. Cotter explained that, while inventors generally want to draft patent claims broadly so as to capture as much value as possible, the written description requirement poses a risk that a patent will be invalid if the claims cover more variations than the written description discloses. (Subscription required)