On Sept. 21, 2012, a three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit in In re Droge (2011-1600) held that the claims in U.S. patent application serial no. 10/082,772 (the ‘772 application”), directed to a method of recombining DNA in eukaryotic cells, were unpatentable for obviousness. The Federal Circuit affirmed the decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, affirming the patent examiner’s rejection for obviousness despite an expert opinion from the applicant that the prior art failed to provide an expectation of success in the claimed combination.

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