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5.07.26
Federal Circuit Provides Path to Written Description and Enablement for Patents Related to Methods of Using a Well-Known Class of Molecules
On April 16, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the court) issued a precedential decision in Teva Pharmaceuticals International GmbH v. Eli Lily and Company, determining that the claims of Teva’s U.S. Patent Nos. 8,586,045 (the ’045 patent), 9,884,907 (the ’907 patent), and 9,884,908 (the ’908 patent) (collectively, the Headache Patents) relating to methods of reducing headache by administration of humanized anti-CGRP antagonist antibodies are not invalid for lack of written description or enablement. The decision reversed a district court’s judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) decision concluding otherwise, and reinstated the jury’s findings that Eli Lilly’s Emgality® product willfully infringed the Headache Patents.
Client Highlights
1.03.25
Firm Advises Pleno on IP Diligence Related to $25 Million Series B
On December 12, 2024, Pleno, a clinical and multi-omics diagnostics company that is revolutionizing biological target detection, announced that it has closed $25 million in Series B funding from major investors Deerfield Management, Foresite Capital, and Medical Excellence Capital, among others. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati advised Pleno on IP diligence related to the transaction.
Based in San Diego, California, Pleno is an early-stage start-up company developing the RAPTOR™ multi-omic instrument platform to enable a broad array of life science applications. The company makes complex multi-omic known-target detection accessible and affordable to everyone through the innovative use of its Hypercoding™ technology, which simplifies the entire process and enables unprecedented improvements in performance, cost, and scale.
The Wilson Sonsini team advising Pleno on IP diligence related to the Series B included Bill Barrett, Sara Patak, and Matt Garnica.
For more information, please see Pleno’s news release. Additional coverage is available in Fierce Biotech and the San Diego Business Journal.
Based in San Diego, California, Pleno is an early-stage start-up company developing the RAPTOR™ multi-omic instrument platform to enable a broad array of life science applications. The company makes complex multi-omic known-target detection accessible and affordable to everyone through the innovative use of its Hypercoding™ technology, which simplifies the entire process and enables unprecedented improvements in performance, cost, and scale.
The Wilson Sonsini team advising Pleno on IP diligence related to the Series B included Bill Barrett, Sara Patak, and Matt Garnica.
For more information, please see Pleno’s news release. Additional coverage is available in Fierce Biotech and the San Diego Business Journal.
Client Highlights
8.02.23
Firm Advises Foresite Capital on IP Matters Related to CG Oncology Financing
On August 2, 2023, CG Oncology, Inc., an oncolytic immunotherapy company focused on developing bladder-saving therapeutics for patients with urologic cancer, announced the close of an oversubscribed $105 million crossover financing round, co-led by new investors Foresite Capital and TCGX, with participation from Avidity Partners, BVF Partners, and Janus Henderson Investors, as well as existing investors including Acorn Bioventures, Ally Bridge Group, Decheng Capital, Longitude Capital, Malin Corporation, and RA Capital Management. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati advised Foresite Capital on IP matters related to the transaction.
Client Highlights
6.12.23
Wilson Sonsini Advises Venrock on IP Matters Related to Upstream Bio's $200 Million Series B
On June 8, 2023, Upstream Bio, a clinical-stage biotech company advancing new therapies to treat inflammation, announced the completion of a $200 million Series B financing. The Series B round was led jointly by Enavate Sciences and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, with participation from other new investors Bain Capital Life Sciences and Wellington Management and Series A investors OrbiMed, Access Biotechnology, Decheng Capital, Altshuler Shaham Provident Funds Ltd., TCG X, HBM Healthcare Investments, Omega Funds, and Samsara BioCapital.
Client Highlights
1.09.23
Wilson Sonsini Advises Arpeggio Biosciences on IP Matters Related to $17 Million Series A
On September 7, 2022, Arpeggio Biosciences, a preclinical therapeutics company whose technology targets transcriptional dysregulation in disease, announced a $17 million Series A funding round, following a $3.2 million seed round completed in 2020. Funding was led by Builders VC and will support ongoing development of Arpeggio’s drug pipeline, as well as its transcription-monitoring technologies. This Series A funding was also supported by Arpeggio’s seed round investors Khosla Ventures, TechU Ventures, FundersClub, Alice Zhang, and Fifty Years, with new participation from Tencent, ATEM Capital, Formic Ventures, Tau Ventures, Milad Alucozai (BoxOne Ventures), and Matthew De Silva (Longtail Capital). Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati represented Arpeggio in the transaction and advises the company on ongoing patent, regulatory, and business advisory matters.
Alerts
7.15.21
Patent Stakeholders Invited to Provide Public Comment on Patent Eligibility Impacts on American Innovation
On July 9, 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register on behalf of Senators Tillis, Hirono, Cotton, and Coons seeking public input for a patent eligibility study.1 The study focuses on the current state of patent eligibility case law in the United States, and how it affects investment and innovation in fields like quantum computing, artificial intelligence, precision medicine, diagnostic methods, and pharmaceutical treatments. Current law has made it difficult for patent innovations that can be characterized as abstract ideas or natural phenomena, which has made protection in fields like computer applications and medical diagnostics harder to obtain and defend.