Gilead was another unique and highly challenging decision with reasons of more than 900 paragraphs over 324 pages. A case of aberrant factual complexity, sundry issues assessing “nucleophilic substitution reactions”, conflicting expert testimony and various evidentiary witness contradictions, not to mention the application of several patent law issues, all in a matter of immense economic value.
The decision was upheld on its facts, including on a leave application to the Supreme Court. Gilead is cited to support the rule that “although a prediction does not need to amount to a certainty to be sound, there must be a prima facie reasonable inference of utility. Gillead was but one case rendered in a long career by a generalist civil litigation counsel and then judge, just because so many assignments were based on language skills.
As a picture is worth a thousand words, I ask the reader to skim the reasons of the Gilead reasons as the optimal means to grasp the nature and challenge and results of a matter far outside a generalist judge’s usual comfort zone.
Peter Annis Dispute Resolution 