Court Invalidates Merck’s NuvaRing Patent Over Obviousness

A federal judge ruled that Merck’s patent for its contraceptive NuvaRing is invalid due to obviousness.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Sleet for the District of Delaware cited a 1995 patent application that disclosed the composition of the two-compartment vaginal ring in his opinion.

Merck has appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. — José Vasquez