Federal Court in the District of Colorado Rules Liquid Cannabinoid Formulations Are Patent Eligible

This alert discusses a recent court decision in the first cannabis patent litigation in United States federal district court (United Cannabis Corp. (“UCANN”) v. Pure Hemp Collective, Inc. (D. Colo. No: 1:18-cv-01922-NYW). Pure Hemp filed a motion for partial summary judgment arguing that claims directed to specific liquid cannabinoid formulations were unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. §101. In its ruling, the court denied the motion, effectively ruling that claims directed toward liquid cannabinoid formulations are not directed to patentineligible subject matter. United Cannabis Corp. v. Pure Hemp Collective Inc., Civil Action No. 18-cv-1922-WJMNYW, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66092, *19 (D. Colo. Apr. 17, 2019).

Section 101 – Patent-Eligible Subject Matter Overview -

Under 35 U.S.C. §101, Congress allowed four categories of patent-eligible subject matter: (1) processes; (2) machines; (3) manufactures; and (4) compositions of matter. The U.S. Supreme Court has identified three categories of exceptions to these patent-eligible subject matters—also known as patent-ineligible subject matters: (1) laws or products of nature; (2) physical phenomena; and (3) abstract ideas. Moreover, natural products—such as naturally-found chemicals, life forms, and substances—fall within the patent-ineligible subject matter of “products of nature.”