Wyeth LLC

The matter of *Wyeth LLC v. Commissioner of Patents* [2023] FCA 1000 concerned an appeal by Wyeth LLC against a decision of the Commissioner of Patents to refuse its application for a patent. The dispute centred on whether Wyeth LLC was entitled to a patent for a pharmaceutical product, specifically a method of treating a disease.

The primary legal issue before the Federal Court was whether the invention, as described in Wyeth LLC's patent application, met the requirements of novelty and inventive step under the *Patents Act 1990* (Cth). Specifically, the court had to determine if the claimed method was new and not obvious to a person skilled in the art, considering the existing state of knowledge at the time of the application.

Justice Nicole Worth found that the invention lacked novelty because the essential elements of the claimed method were disclosed in prior art. Her Honour applied the principles of patent law concerning the assessment of novelty and inventive step, emphasising that an invention must demonstrate a sufficient degree of ingenuity beyond what is already known. The court concluded that the Commissioner's decision to refuse the patent was correct.