Merck Serono v. Hopewell Pharma (Fed. Cir., October 30, 2025) 2025-1210

This episode regards a United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit opinion, dated October 30, 2025, concerning a patent dispute between Merck Serono S.A. and Hopewell Pharma Ventures, Inc. The case involves Merck's appeal of two consolidated inter partes reviews (IPRs) before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board), which had found certain claims of two Merck patents related to an oral cladribine regimen for treating multiple sclerosis (MS) unpatentable as obvious. The primary legal issue reviewed is whether a prior art reference, the Bodor publication, was properly considered "by another" under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. §§ 102(a), (e), given a potential overlap in inventors between the Bodor publication and the patents-in-suit. Ultimately, the court affirmed the Board's decision, holding that the Bodor disclosure was prior art and, when combined with the Stelmasiak reference, rendered the challenged claims obvious.

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