US Supreme Court Limits Estoppel Rule In Blow To PhRMA

Ruling keeps the principle of assignor estoppel in place, but restricts its use to situations where an inventor’s claims in court directly contradict those in the patent.

Supreme Court and patents
• Source: photo illustration/ Alamy, US PTO

The US Supreme Court preserved but narrowed an inventor’s right to later argue that their patent is not valid in the second high court case this month to weigh on the biopharma intellectual property landscape.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America had filed an amicus brief arguing for complete preservation of the doctrine of “assignor estoppel,” which prevents inventors from later nullifying their own patents, so the limitations imposed by the Supreme Court in the 

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