Lack of Specific Dosage Amounts and Frequencies of Administration Does Not Render Claims for Method of Treating Pain Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101

The court denied defendant's motion to reconsider an earlier order granting plaintiff's motion for summary judgment that the asserted claims of its pain treatment patents did not encompass unpatentable subject matter. "The fact that certain of the claims do not recite specific dosage amounts and frequencies of administration is not fatal to the patent eligibility of the 'PK-only' claims under 35 U.S.C. § 101. A claim to a method of treating an illness is typically more than an expression of a natural law; if it were otherwise, pharmaceutical patents would be hard to come by, as most methods of treatment using pharmaceuticals consist simply of the administration of a drug that affects the human body in a manner that is dictated by laws of nature. . . . The claims in all of the claims asserted in this action . . . are 'treatment steps' -- that is, directed at a new and useful method of treating pain in a certain population of patients using a specific set of hydrocodone bitartrate formulations. For that reason, the Court views the claims as not directed to unpatentable subject matter by claiming patent protection for a natural law."

Pernix Ireland Pain Ltd. et al v. Alvogen Malta Operations Ltd., 1-16-cv-00139 (DED June 8, 2018, Order) (Bryson, CJ)