Federal Circuit

President Reagan announced Monday he is nominating Susan Wittenberg Liebeler, vice chairman of the International Trade Commission, to be U.S. circuit judge for the federal circuit here.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court justices said Monday they were highly skeptical of the idea that a company or a scientist can hold a patent on human genes and prevent others from testing or using them. “What about the first person who found a liver?” asked Justice Elena Kagan. She was agreeing with other justices who said patents should not be given for “products of nature,” whether they are plant leaves that cure a disease or tiny parts of the human body. Justice Stephen Breyer said patent law involves an “uneasy compromise” because it seeks to advance science and innovation by giving an inventor a temporary monopoly to profit from an advance.

The Federal Circuit court of appeals in Washington upheld a $64.5-million judgment for patent infringement against Tyco International Ltd.'s U.S. Surgical Corp. unit. A law firm representing Applied Medical Resources Corp. of Rancho Santa Margarita said that the court affirmed a $43.5-million damages award, and said the $64.5 million included increased damages and attorney fees.

Online auction giant EBay Inc. has won a round in a patent-infringement battle over the technology behind its "buy it now" feature. An appeals court this month upheld a $25-million verdict against EBay in a suit filed by MercExchange, which claimed that the larger company was improperly using its technology. But on Tuesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued an initial finding that one of MercExchange's patents underlying the case should be revoked.

A federal appeals court issued a stay involving a patent lawsuit that might require EBay Inc. to change its "Buy It Now" feature while the Supreme Court considers a request to review the case. The online auction giant had petitioned the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington for the stay. In 2001, MercExchange sued EBay, alleging that it infringed two of its patents related to fixed-price trading.

Roche Holding was barred by an appeals court from selling the anemia drug Mircera in the U.S. after a judge found that the Swiss company infringed patents held by Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a February order by U.S. District Judge William Young in Boston without comment. Young ruled last week that U.S. sales of Mircera should be blocked until the patents expire.

Pfizer Inc. lost an appeals court bid to revive its patent on the hypertension drug Norvasc, a ruling that opened the door to generic competition. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington denied Pfizer's request to reconsider a March 22 ruling that the patent was invalid. The March ruling allowed Mylan Laboratories Inc. to make a generic version of Norvasc. Apotex Inc.