Patent Law

Pharmaceutical & Biotech Patent Litigation Strategies Conference

Posted on March 27, 2010
Pharma IQ will be holding its 5th Annual Pharmaceutical & Biotech Patent Litigation Strategies conference on May 24-26, 2010 in London, England. The conference will allow attendees to: ? Protect a patent portfolio through implementation of the best practice policy and efficient management strategies; ? Discover the intricate relationship between the EPO and the London Patents Court to understand the affect it has on EPO decisions and Patent Court judgments; ? Defend a patent portfolio against attack on the grounds of obviousness through strategies of obviousness attacks and defense in the UK; ? Understand preliminary injunctions to enable an efficient...

Applera Corp. v. Illumina, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2010)

Posted on March 26, 2010
By Kevin E. Noonan -- The Federal Circuit waded into the question of patent ownership in a dispute between a patent attorney and Applera-Applied Biosystems over patents involving nucleic acid sequencing technology in Applera Corp. v. Illumina, Inc. The case is unusual in at least three respects: the inventor is a lawyer, not a scientist; the patents are substantially prophetic in a technology that is heavily dependent on experimental results; and the dispute was resolved not on the basis of a patent law issue but with the Federal Circuit interpreting the provisions of California employment law...

PUBPAT Expresses "Deep Concern" over Senate False Marking Provision

Posted on March 26, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- Last week, in a letter addressed to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) Executive Director Daniel Ravicher expressed "deep concern" over the Committee's addition of a provision to the Senate patent reform bill (S...

Biotech/Pharma Docket

Posted on March 25, 2010
By Suresh Pillai -- Settlement Announced in Carbatrol® Suit The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has approved a settlement of the infringement suit between plaintiff Shire LLC and defendant Nostrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. concerning the alleged infringement of U...

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Reader Survey: How Has the Recession Impacted Your Patent Practice?

Posted on March 24, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- Earlier this year, we released our annual list of top biotech/pharma stories (see "Top Stories of 2009: #4 to #1"). At the top of our list, we placed the biotech/pharma industry's attempts to recover from the Great Recession. Back in February of 2009, we noted that almost a third of the Biotechnology Industry Organization's membership had less than six months of cash on hand, 45% had less than one year of cash remaining, and only 10% of the 370 publicly-traded biotechnology companies reported a positive income...

Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co. (Fed. Cir. 2010) (en banc)

Posted on March 23, 2010
By Kevin E. Noonan -- It's settled, then -- unless the Supreme Court decides to weigh in, there is a separate written description requirement in 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph. The precedent developed since Regents of the University of California v...

House Passes Health Care Reform Bill -- Biosimilar Regulatory Pathway Makes Cut, Pay-for-Delay Ban Does Not

Posted on March 23, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- On Sunday night, the House of Representatives voted by a narrow 219-212 margin to agree to the version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) that the Senate passed on December 24, 2009 (see "Follow-on Biologics News Briefs - No...

Court Report

Posted on March 22, 2010
By Sherri Oslick -- About Court Report: Each week we will report briefly on recently filed biotech and pharma cases. Cephalon, Inc. et al. v. Lupin Ltd. et al. 1:10-cv-00661; filed March 17, 2010 in the District Court of Maryland ? Plaintiffs: Cephalon, Inc...

BIO International Convention

Posted on March 22, 2010
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) will be holding its annual BIO International Convention on May 3-6, 2010 in Chicago, IL. Founded in 1993, BIO is a nonprofit association seeking supportive biotechnology policies on behalf of more than 1,200 biotechnology companies, state and international affiliates, and related organizations, as well as providing business development services for many emerging biotech companies...

BIO IPCC Spring Conference

Posted on March 22, 2010
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) will be holding its Intellectual Property Counsels Committee (IPCC) Spring Conference & Meeting on April 19-21, 2010 in New Orleans, LA. The semi-annual IPCC conference will once again be open to the public...

Conference & CLE Calendar

Posted on March 22, 2010
March 22-23, 2010 - 4th Annual Patent Law Institute (Practising Law Institute) - San Francisco, CA March 24-25, 2010 - FDA Boot Camp*** (American Conference Institute) - New York, NY March 30, 2010 - "The Bilski Decision: Expert Strategies to Manage Its Impact on University IP" (Technology Transfer Tactics) - 1:00 - 2:30 PM (EST) April 7, 2010 - First Annual Board Conference (U...

Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings v. Metabolite Laboratories, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2010)

Posted on March 18, 2010
Federal Circuit Transfers "Hot Potato" Diagnostic Method Case By Kevin E. Noonan -- The Federal Circuit's majority decision in Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings ("LabCorp") v. Metabolite Laboratories, Inc., and Judge Dyk's dissent, illustrate how often factual considerations, and different views of the same facts, can influence if not determine a legal outcome...

VentureDeal Report Shows 65% Increase in Fourth Quarter Biotech Venture Funding

Posted on March 17, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- Earlier today, VentureDeal, a venture capital database offering information on U.S. technology startup companies, venture capital firms, and company financings, released its latest quarterly venture capital funding reports covering the fourth quarter of 2009...

Court Report

Posted on March 15, 2010
By Sherri Oslick -- About Court Report: Each week we will report briefly on recently filed biotech and pharma cases. Biovail Laboratories International SRL v. Paddock Laboratories, Inc. 0:10-cv-00687; filed March 9, 2010 in the District Court of Minnesota Biovail Laboratories International SRL v...

Conference & CLE Calendar

Posted on March 15, 2010
March 17-18, 2010 - 18th Forum on Biotech Patenting (C5) - Munich, Germany March 18-19, 2010 - 4th Summit on Biosimilars and Follow-on Biologics*** (Center for Business Intelligence) - Washington, DC March 22-23, 2010 - 4th Annual Patent Law Institute (Practising Law Institute) - San Francisco, CA March 24-25, 2010 - FDA Boot Camp*** (American Conference Institute) - New York, NY March 30, 2010 - "The Bilski Decision: Expert Strategies to Manage Its Impact on University IP" (Technology Transfer Tactics) - 1:00 - 2:30 PM (EST) April 7, 2010 - First Annual Board Conference (U...

Ajinomoto Co. v. International Trade Commission (Fed. Cir. 2010)

Posted on March 15, 2010
By Suresh Pillai -- Last week, the Federal Circuit affirmed a determination by the International Trade Commission ("ITC") that: (1) the asserted claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,827,698 and 6,040,160 were invalid for failure to comply with the best mode requirement, and (2) the '698 patent was unenforceable due to inequitable conduct...

USPTO and UKIPO Announce Plan to Reduce Global Application Backlog

Posted on March 15, 2010
By Sarah Fendrick -- The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced in a March 10, 2010 press release that it has joined forces with the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) to develop a plan to reduce patent processing backlogs in both offices...

Hatch-Waxman Boot Camp

Posted on March 13, 2010
American Conference Institute (ACI) will be holding its Hatch-Waxman Boot Camp conference on May 24-25, 2010 in San Diego, CA. ACI faculty will help attendees: ? Understand the interplay of the PTO and FDA in the patenting of drugs and biologics; ? Learn about the essentials of the FDA approval process and its link to biopharmaceutical patents; ? Develop an in-depth and practical knowledge of Hatch-Waxman protocols, including: Orange Book listings, bioequivalency, exclusivities, the 30-month stay, and the safe harbor; ? Navigate the intricacies of patent term adjustment and patent term restoration; ? Comprehend how the introduction of biosimilars will...

Webinar on Obviousness after KSR

Posted on March 13, 2010
Strafford will be offering a webinar entitled "Obviousness Standard for Patents Post-KSR: Strategies to Withstand USPTO Obviousness Rejections and Attacks on Patent Validity" on April 14, 2010 from 1:00 - 2:30 PM (EST). Ronald Cahill of Nutter McClennen & Fish, Karen Canaan of CanaanLaw; and Kevin Meek of Baker Botts, will review how the obviousness standard has been applied by the court and the USPTO since the Supreme Court's decision in KSR v...

Biotech/Pharma Docket

Posted on March 12, 2010
By Suresh Pillai -- DC District Court Remands Pfizer PTA Suit to USPTO Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia remanded Pfizer Inc.'s challenge of the USPTO's calculation of patent term adjustment (PTA) back to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office...

House Bill Seeks to Codify President's Stem Cell Order

Posted on March 12, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- On Tuesday, Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) introduced legislation (H.R. 4808) that would amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for human embryonic stem cell research. H.R. 4808 would codify President Obama's Executive Order 13505, which permitted federal funding of research conducted with human embryonic stem cell lines...

Senator Landrieu Introduces Legislation Requiring Study on Effects of First-to-File Provision

Posted on March 11, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- On Tuesday, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) introduced legislation (S. 3089) that would require the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to conduct a study and report on the effects of changes to U.S. patent law that would result from enactment of the Patent Reform Act of 2009...

AUTM Survey Shows Drop in Issued Patents

Posted on March 10, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- Last month, the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) released its U.S. licensing survey for FY2008. According to a GenomeWeb Daily News report, a majority of the academic and research institutions that answered the survey indicated that they filed more patent applications and were involved in more start-ups during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008...

Mexican Supreme Court Decides on Broad Interpretation of Linkage Regulations

Posted on March 10, 2010
By Juan Serrano -- Back in 2003, Mexico enacted linkage regulations to avoid the granting of marketing authorizations in violation of patent rights. The system created by these regulations is far less elaborate than the one set forth by the Hatch-Waxman act in the U...

Senate Leadership Unveils Details of Patent Reform Agreement

Posted on March 09, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- On February 25th, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) announced that the Committee had reached a "tentative agreement in principle" regarding patent reform legislation (see "Chairman Leahy Announces 'Tentative Agreement in Principle' on Patent Reform Bill")...

New York Times Provides Soapbox for Data Exclusivity Critics

Posted on March 09, 2010
By Kevin E. Noonan -- Policy arguments based solely on outcome rather than process are rarely effective when put into practice. This is because the desired benefits of the outcome blind the policymaker to the question of whether the desired outcome can be achieved without considering the effects (intended or otherwise) by the process...

USPTO Requests Comments on Office's Paperwork Burden Collection Procedures

Posted on March 09, 2010
By Sarah Fendrick -- In order to assess the burden of patent-related paperwork, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has retained ICF International (ICF) to conduct an independent study. As described in a notice in the Federal Regster (75 Fed. Reg. 8649), the overall objectives of the study included: (1) Develop an independent, publicly vetted, objectively based estimate of the total cost of paperwork for patent applicants; (2) Develop recommendations for continued improvement in the accuracy of burden estimates made by the USPTO in the future; and (3) Identify opportunities to reduce applicant burdens...

Court Report

Posted on March 08, 2010
By Sherri Oslick -- About Court Report: Each week we will report briefly on recently filed biotech and pharma cases. Schering Corp. et al. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. et al. 2:10-cv-01058; filed March 2, 2010 in the District Court of New Jersey ? Plaintiffs: Schering Corp...

Patent Profile: Athersys Obtains U.S. and European Patents for Non-Embryonic Multipotent Stem Cells

Posted on March 08, 2010
By James DeGiulio -- On February 9th, Athersys, Inc. was issued U.S. Patent No. 7,659,118 covering multipotent adult stem cells (MASC), their isolation and expansion, and related pharmaceutical compositions. In a February 10, 2010 press release, the Cleveland-based company also announced the grant of European patent EP 1 218 489 B1, the counterpart to the '118 patent...

USPTO Releases First Issue of Inventorseye

Posted on March 08, 2010
By Sarah Fendrick -- Last month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released the first issue of inventorseye. Inventorseye is a bimonthly publication released by the USPTO in an effort to provide the necessary resources for an independent inventor. The electronic publication provides information on events, organizations, and meetings of interest to the independent inventor community as well as issues that pertain to independent and small entity inventors...

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