The development and state of the law of obviousness of chemical compounds will be discussed, with an emphasis on pharmaceutically-active small molecules and biologics.  The legal requirements for proving and defending against obviousness challenges, both in the courts and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, center around the so-called "lead compound" analysis.  This presentation will highlight the history of the "lead compound" analysis and review recent decisions of interest.

Methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, futile: The law of chemical obviousness

251st National Meeting (2016)

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