THE WHAT? A US Federal Court has found in favor of L’Oréal in a patent infringement suit where the French cosmetics brand stood accused of impinging on a patent held by the University of Massachusetts and Carmel Laboratories covering skin care ingredient adenosine, according to a report published by Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review.

THE DETAILS The court ruled that phrases such as ‘enhancing the skin’ employed in the patent were subjective and the patents’ claims failed to define their parameters so that an ‘ordinary artisan’ could seek to avoid infringement.

THE WHY? L’Oréal secured victory by arguing that indefinite patents were invalid and the court agreed, noting that the patent lacked the requisite objective boundaries.