USPTO Issues Memo Clarifying Written Description Guidance

By Donald Zuhn –- In a memorandum distributed last week to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent examining corps, Robert Bahr, the Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, sought to clarify the Office's guidance regarding the written description requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 112(a), and in particular, the examination of claims directed to antibodies for compliance with the written description requirement. The memorandum, entitled "Clarification of Written Description Guidance For Claims Drawn to Antibodies and Status of 2008 Training Materials," is divided into three sections, which address the Federal Circuit's recent decision in Amgen Inc. v. Sanofi, the Written…Original Article