Value Delivered
GreyB helped the client establish compelling prior art by confirming the public availability of a key thesis with the head librarian of a university. This prior art targeted a contested patent in the stem cell culture media market, which is valued at over $500 million.
This strategic move strengthened the client’s opposition case. It demonstrated that the lipid composition claimed in the patent was already in use. As a result, the patent could potentially be invalidated, saving the client from costly licensing fees or litigation.
Problem Solved
The client sought to challenge a patent that claimed a specific composition of fatty acids in a stem cell culture media lipid supplement. To do so, they needed to demonstrate that similar lipid compositions existed prior to the patent’s priority date. The identified results described the fatty acids in broad ranges or mentioned completely different ratios than the required ones.
After brainstorming with the client, a relevant thesis was identified. However, such documents are often subject to embargo, a temporary restriction on public access to the full text for a specific period. Therefore, it was essential to validate its public availability before the priority date using other sources.
Solutions Offered
To overcome this problem, GreyB reached out to the head librarian of the university where the thesis was published, as well as the thesis author and supervisor.
While the author did not respond, both the supervisor and the head librarian confirmed that the thesis had been publicly available a year before the cut-off and was not under embargo.
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