Patent Law

Audioconference on Patent Prosecution Cost Reduction

Posted on December 19, 2009
Technology Transfer Tactics will be offering an audioconference entitled "Patent Prosecution: Best Practices for Reducing Costs While Improving Patent Quality" on February 9, 2010 from 1:00 - 2:30 PM (EST). Dr. Jean Baker and Jack Cook of Quarles & Brady will provide specific prosecution strategies that Technology Transfer Offices can adopted to significantly reduce legal bills while improving overall patent quality...

Biosimilars Conference

Posted on December 19, 2009
Visiongain will be holding its 6th Annual Biosimilars Conference on March 2-4, 2010 in Boston, MA. At the conference, Visiongain faculty will offer presentations on the following topics on March 3-4: ? Opportunities and challenges for biosimilars in the global market; ? Commercializing biosimilars: Will they really be able to compete? ? Demystifying the market aspects/implications of follow on biologics; ? The impact of a patient centric viewpoint on biosimilars; ? Strategies for process development/manufacturing of biosimilars (for global markets); ? Bioassays for biosimilars; ? Immunogenicity Programs -- Not just another box to check; ? Role of USP standards in...

Gene Patenting Debate Continues - Round Three

Posted on December 18, 2009
By Donald Zuhn -- Last week, National Public Radio's Science Friday, which is broadcast nationwide as part of NPR's Talk of the Nation, examined the issue of gene patenting. The debate over gene patenting reignited in May as a result of the Association for Molecular Pathology v...

Patent Reform Efforts Opposed by Small Business Group

Posted on December 17, 2009
By Kevin E. Noonan -- Until now, the major bones of contention over the Senate's patent "reform" bill (S. 515) have centered around two provisions: putting in place statutory language governing how damages are to be assessed, and instituting of a post-grant review system modeled on the European opposition, and that will be more extensive than current re-examinations...

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Biotech/Pharma Docket

Posted on December 16, 2009
By Suresh Pillai -- Teva's Discovery Request Blocked in Aricept® Suit The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has denied a discovery request by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries to examine communications between Eisai and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office...

Ariad v. Lilly: Oral Argument - Addendum

Posted on December 15, 2009
By Kevin E. Noonan -- At the outset of the en banc oral argument in Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co. last week, Chief Judge Michel asked Lilly's counsel whether Lilly had preserved the written description issue by timely objecting to District Court Judge Zobel's jury instruction (see "Ariad v...

USPTO Requests Comments on Enhancement of Patent Quality

Posted on December 14, 2009
By Sarah Fendrick -- The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) have created a project to improve the overall quality of patents, reduce patent application pendency, and ensure that granted patents are valid. The improvement initiative does not involve changes in patent law or substantive new rules, but rather the USPTO is seeking public comment on a number of categories identified in a Notice published in the Federal Register (74 Fed...

Court Report

Posted on December 14, 2009
By Sherri Oslick -- About Court Report: Each week we will report briefly on recently filed biotech and pharma cases, and a few interesting cases will be selected for periodic monitoring. Cephalon Inc. et al. v. Actavis Group et al. 1:09-cv-00940; filed December 8, 2009 in the District Court of Delaware ? Plaintiffs: Cephalon Inc...

Conference & CLE Calendar

Posted on December 14, 2009
January 6-10, 2010 - 27th Annual National CLE Conference (Law Education Institute, Inc.) January 20-21, 2010 - Life Sciences IP Due Diligence (American Conference Institute) - New York, NY January 25-26, 2010 - European Pharmaceutical Regulatory Law Boot Camp (American Conference Institute) - New York, NY January 26-27, 2010 - Advanced In-House Counsel Forum on China IP Law (C5) - Shanghai, China January 27-28, 2010 - Pharma & Biotech Patent Litigation (C5) - Amsterdam, Netherlands ***Patent Docs is a media partner of this conference or CLE

Pharma & Biotech Patent Litigation Conference

Posted on December 12, 2009
C5 (UK) will be holding its 2nd Annual Pharma & Biotech Patent Litigation conference on January 27-28, 2010 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The conference will provide strategic guidance regarding the following issues: ? Is the Enforcement Directive an effective tool for brand name pharma in enforcing patents: Analysis of post Directive case law; ? The latest European Patent Office decisions and their implications: Hear directly from the EPO's Legal Member to the Boards of Appeal; ? SPCs and paediatric regulation: Recent decisions and varying application requirements across Europe; ? Pharma Sector Inquiry Final Report: What lessons can both innovators and generics...

China IP Law Conference

Posted on December 12, 2009
C5 (UK) will be holding its Advanced In-House Counsel Forum on China IP Law on January 26-27, 2010 in Shanghai, China. At the conference, C5 faculty will offer presentations on the following topics: ? Status report on recent IP regulatory and enforcement initiatives; ? Developing a filing strategy to address China's new secrecy examination; ? Incorporating utility model patents in patent strategies; ? How to collect evidence to win patent cases in Chinese Courts; ? How absolute novelty standard will challenge patent validity; ? Positioning an IP department to support legal, marketing, and R &D departments; ? Mitigating leakage of...

NPR's "Science Friday" to Focus on Gene Patenting

Posted on December 11, 2009
By Donald Zuhn -- On December 11th, National Public Radio's Science Friday, which is broadcast nationwide from 2:00 - 4:00 pm Eastern time as part of NPR's Talk of the Nation programming, will focus on the issue of gene patenting. In particular, the program will examine the Association for Molecular Pathology v...

Ariad v. Lilly: Ariad's Reply Brief

Posted on December 11, 2009
By Donald Zuhn -- On Monday, an en banc panel of the Federal Circuit heard oral argument in Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co. (see "Ariad v. Lilly: Oral Argument"). During the hearing, several members of the Court as well as counsel for the Government focused on perceived differences between the positions taken by Plaintiffs-Appellees ("Ariad") in their principal and reply briefs...

Ariad v. Lilly: Oral Argument

Posted on December 10, 2009
By Kevin E. Noonan -- Oral argument in Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co. was heard on Monday before an en banc panel of the Federal Circuit. Counsel for Ariad (John M. Whealan), Lilly (Charles E. Lipsey) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Mark R...

Biotech/Pharma Docket

Posted on December 09, 2009
By Suresh Pillai -- Breach of Contract Claims Dismissed in AIA-Mayo Suit The District Court for the Middle District of Florida has dismissed two claims brought by the Alzheimer's Institute of America (AIA) against the Mayo Clinic and Myriad Pharmaceuticals alleging that the defendants had breached the no-challenge clause contained within the institutional licensing agreement...

USPTO and India's DIPP Sign Memorandum of Understanding

Posted on December 09, 2009
By Sarah Fendrick -- On November 23, 2009, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and India's Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding comprehensive bilateral cooperation on intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement...

Court Report

Posted on December 08, 2009
By Sherri Oslick -- About Court Report: Each week we will report briefly on recently filed biotech and pharma cases, and a few interesting cases will be selected for periodic monitoring. Pfizer Inc. et al. v. Kremers Urban LLC et al. 1:09-cv-00924; filed December 3, 2009 in the District Court of Delaware ? Plaintiffs: Pfizer Inc...

USPTO Implements Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan

Posted on December 08, 2009
By Sarah Fendrick -- In an effort to reduce the backlog of unexamined patent applications pending before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Office has implemented a procedure that allows small entities to have an application accorded special status examination if the applicant expressly abandons another co-pending unexamined application...

Amicus Briefs in Ariad v. Lilly: Regents of University of California et al.

Posted on December 07, 2009
By Donald Zuhn -- In anticipation of tomorrow's oral argument in the rehearing en banc of Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co. (scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm (EST) in Courtroom 201), Patent Docs has spent the past three weeks reviewing a number of the briefs submitted by various amici...

Amicus Briefs in Ariad v. Lilly: Briefs by Companies

Posted on December 07, 2009
By Kevin E. Noonan -- Several companies have filed amicus curiae briefs with the Federal Circuit on the questions presented by the en banc Court in the Ariad case. Although we have explored the positions taken by some of these companies in detail, on the eve of oral argument, we set forth here briefer synopses of the positions taken by the remaining technology companies that have filed amicus briefs...

Conference & CLE Calendar

Posted on December 07, 2009
December 7, 2009 - 20th Annual Conference on U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Law and Practice (PTO Day) (Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) - Washington, DC December 7-8, 2009 - Foreign Patent Law & Regulation*** (American Conference Institute) - New York, NY December 9, 2010 - Biotechnology/Chemical/Pharmaceutical (BCP) Customer Partnership Meeting (U...

Two Physicians Want Congress to Close "Evergreening" Loophole in FOB Legislation

Posted on December 04, 2009
By Donald Zuhn -- In an Op-Ed appearing in Tuesday's San Jose Mercury News, two physicians have asked Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) to close what they believe is a loophole in follow-on biologics (FOB) legislation currently before Congress ("Eshoo needs to close loophole in biologics legislation")...

USPTO Issues Notice to Remove Claims and Continuations Rule Changes from CFR

Posted on December 04, 2009
By Sarah Fendrick -- Effective October 14, 2009, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revised the rules of practice to remove changes arising from the claims and continuations rules from the Code of Federal Regulations. The Federal Register notice stated the changes in the claims and continuation rules "addressed the Office's patent application pendency and quality issues, but did so with provisions that were objectionable to a large segment of the patent user community...

FCBA Panel Discussion on Work Sharing

Posted on December 04, 2009
On Wednesday, December 9, 2009, the Federal Circuit Bar Association (FCBA) will be holding a discussion entitled "Work Sharing Initiatives Between IP Offices Throughout the World -- Legal and Policy Issues." The discussion will be held from 3:00-4:00 pm (EST) at the Federal Circuit Bar Association, 1620 I Street, NW Suite 900, Washington, DC, and will focus on recent work sharing initiatives implemented by the U...

Senator Leahy: "Time Is Now" for Patent Reform

Posted on December 03, 2009
By Donald Zuhn -- On Saturday, in response to an Op-Ed piece published in The New York Times two weeks ago ("Inventing a Better Patent System"), the Times published five letters, including one from patent reform's biggest proponent, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee ("A Fresh Look at Patents and Innovation")...

Amicus Briefs in Ariad v. Lilly: American Intellectual Property Law Association

Posted on December 01, 2009
By Kevin E. Noonan -- The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) has joined the chorus of patent bar groups opining on whether there is a separate written description requirement contained in 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph, in an amicus curiae brief filed in the rehearing en banc of Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc...

Follow-on Biologics News Briefs - No. 10

Posted on December 01, 2009
By Donald Zuhn -- Affordable Health Care for America Act Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar The Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962), which was passed by the House of Representatives on November 7th by a narrow five-vote margin (220-215), has now been placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar...

Amicus Briefs in Ariad v. Lilly: Federal Circuit Bar Association

Posted on November 30, 2009
By Kevin E. Noonan -- In Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy wrote, "All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." This sentiment could also be applied to the briefs submitted to the Federal Circuit for its en banc consideration of the written description requirement...

Court Report

Posted on November 30, 2009
By Sherri Oslick -- About Court Report: Each week we will report briefly on recently filed biotech and pharma cases, and a few interesting cases will be selected for periodic monitoring. Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. et al. v. Sandoz Inc. 1:09-cv-00898; filed November 25, 2009 in the District Court of Delaware ? Plaintiffs: Daiichi Sankyo Co...

Conference & CLE Calendar

Posted on November 30, 2009
December 7, 2009 - 20th Annual Conference on U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Law and Practice (PTO Day) (Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) - Washington, DC December 7-8, 2009 - Foreign Patent Law & Regulation*** (American Conference Institute) - New York, NY December 9, 2010 - Biotechnology/Chemical/Pharmaceutical (BCP) Customer Partnership Meeting (U...

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