By: Deanne M. Barrow

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) case of Novartis AG v. Lee, decided on January 15, 2014, is an appeal by plaintiff Novartis and a cross-appeal by defendant U.S. Patent Office (PTO) of a ruling of the district court regarding the PTO’s determination of how much time to add to the patent term of various Novartis patents. The PTO cross-appealed the district court’s ruling that the PTO had improperly determined the amount of patent term adjustment to which Novartis was entitled.

By way of background, the enforceable life or “term” of a U.S. patent begins on the date the patent is issued and generally ends 20 years from the date the application was filed. Although 20 years is the general term, additional time may be added under what is known as patent term adjustment (PTA). —click here to read more—