US 7723910

Summary of U.S. Patent No. 7,723,910 B2

I searched the USPTO database sources (Google Patents, uspto.report, FreePatentsOnline, PubChem) and for CAFC 2026 dockets. Here is what I can confirm with high confidence, followed by what I could not confirm.

Bibliographic data (verified across multiple sources)

Abstract (verbatim): "A method of photodynamically diagnosing or treating a contoured surface includes topically applying 5-aminolevulinic acid to the contoured surface and irradiating the contoured surface with substantially uniform intensity visible light from a plurality of light sources generally conforming to the contoured surface. The plurality of light sources may comprise fluorescent tubes."

Independent claims (plain-language overview)

The patent has 26 claims; the independent claims are 1, 24, and 26, each directed to a method (not an apparatus). All three share the same preamble/body — topically applying 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) to a contoured (non-planar) surface, and irradiating that surface with substantially uniform-intensity visible light from a plurality of light sources that generally conform to the surface's contour — and differ in the limitation that closes each claim:

• Claim 1 — Requires that the plurality of light sources comprises fluorescent tubes. This is the broadest independent claim, covering PDT or photodynamic diagnosis (PD) using ALA and a contour-conforming array of fluorescent tubes.

• Claim 24 — Requires that the contoured surface is irradiated with light substantially entirely within the blue region of the spectrum (no requirement that the sources be fluorescent tubes).

• Claim 26 — Requires specific irradiation parameters: approximately 1000 seconds of light having a nominal peak wavelength of 417 ± 5 nm and a nominal bandwidth of 30 nm (this corresponds to the specification's preferred "Ultra Blue" Sr₂P₂O₇:Eu phosphor dose of ~10 J/cm² at ~10 mW/cm²).

Dependent claims (2–23, 25) add conventional limitations: ALA in a carrier (claim 2); successive applications (claim 3); treatment of specific indications — actinic keratosis (4), acne (6), photo damaged skin (8), cancer (10), warts (12), psoriasis (14), hair removal (16), cancer diagnosis (18), and pre-cancerous conditions (20); and admixing ALA with a vehicle just prior to use (claims 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 25). Claim 23 adds the blue-region limitation to claim 1.

Litigation / CAFC 2026 docket search — uncertainty noted

• No CAFC docket specific to patent 7,723,910 was found in my searches of 2026 (or recent) Federal Circuit dockets. My queries for a 2026 CAFC appeal returned no results, so I cannot confirm any pending CAFC proceeding involving this exact patent number.
• The Google Patents family page flags that the family "has litigation" (Darts-ip family ID 5472388), and the DUSA v. Biofrontera case (D. Mass., No. 1:18-cv-10568; Sun Pharma/DUSA as plaintiff) is the notable family litigation. However, that case asserted the child patents 8,216,289 and 9,723,991 (titled "Illuminator for Photodynamic Therapy"), not 7,723,910 itself. The district court (Stearns, J.) denied Biofrontera's invalidity summary-judgment motion and partially granted DUSA's in 2020.
• Given the '910 patent's June 2019 adjusted expiration, any 2026 CAFC appeal would most plausibly concern damages or an ongoing related dispute rather than infringement of the '910 patent itself, but I have no authoritative confirmation of such a docket.

Bottom line: The '910 patent is a method patent covering topical ALA-based photodynamic therapy/diagnosis of contoured body surfaces (e.g., face/scalp) using contour-conforming, uniform-intensity visible light sources — preferably U-shaped blue fluorescent tubes peaking at ~417 nm. No CAFC 2026 docket for this specific patent was located; that portion of your request is unconfirmed rather than definitively negative.