The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that held all challenged claims of UPL Ltd.'s fungicide combination patent unpatentable. The patent, U.S. Patent No. 11,445,727, covers combinations of a dithiocarbamate fungicide, an SDHI fungicide, and an additional fungicide. Syngenta had petitioned for post-grant review, arguing the claims were anticipated or obvious over earlier references.
The CAFC agreed with the PTAB's claim construction that "combination" and "composition" include sequential application, and found substantial evidence supporting the anticipation holdings based on the Godoy and Tobler references. The court also rejected UPL's argument that De Oliveira taught away from benzovindiflupyr, stating there was no basis for such a suggestion. The obviousness finding for claim 2 was therefore affirmed.
On Syngenta's cross-appeal, the court upheld the PTAB's denial of leave to file a sanctions motion. Syngenta had alleged that field trials reported in the patent never occurred, but UPL withdrew reliance on that data before the board. The Federal Circuit found the safe-harbor provision applied to the withdrawal and that the PTAB did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion.