Hovione wins patent case involving fluticasone intermediates

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has found that Hovione’s method for making flumethasone and an analogue was not obvious, upholding the company’s patent. A previous reexamination based on a 2005 claim had found that the method was obvious and that the patent should be canceled. An appeals board overturned that ruling after hearing oral arguments in September. Read the company’s press release.