2010)[1] (en banc), is a United States court case regarding accusations of infringement by Eli Lilly on U.S. patent 6,410,516 held by ARIAD Pharmaceuticals.
The Federal Circuit ruled en banc to invalidate the patent for a lack of sufficient description of the invention.
On appeal, a three-member panel of the Federal Circuit overturned the lower court ruling, and invalidated the '516 patent.
In Judge Rader's view, the use of traditional tests to determine whether a patent is enabled by its descriptions solved the appellate court's problematic analysis more definitively and predictably.
The impact of the Ariad ruling thus is in keeping with earlier Federal Circuit opinions on written descriptions, but ultimately its effect on biotechnology patents remains unclear.