Patent Fight for Rights to AzaSite Continues in November

Oral arguments will begin November 6, 2012 in connection the patents for AzaSite. The University of California, San Francisco’s (UCSF) will appeal the November 2011 favorable judgment of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in Washington, D.C. The USPTO panel of judges ruled in favor of InSite Vision and confirmed the inventorship of InSite Vision’s patent protecting AzaSite (azithromycin ophthalmic solution) 1%  (U.S. Patent Nos. 6,239,113 and 6,569,443). The university filed the appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals on December 23, 2011. InSite then filed a cross appeal on January 4, 2012. Merck, which markets AzaSite in the U.S. for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis, is collaborating with InSite's defense of its patents. Read more.