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Inequitable conduct during patent prosecution can result in a court's finding of patent unenforceability. Unlike an
invalidity finding, which may leave some claims valid, inequitable conduct surrounding a single claim renders all claims of a patent unenforceable. Under Regeneron v. Merus, a finding of inequitable conduct, retrospectively imposed during litigation and without a showing of deceptive intent before the USPTO, is now a reality. Does this throw out years of precedent? Or are the results of Regeneron specific to the facts of that case? Furthermore, Regeneron has been followed by Gilead v. Merck, in which the two Merck patents in suit were held unenforceable for unclean hands, not inequitable conduct. Will th...