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Article One makes more awards

By Lawrence B. Ebert, Esq.

From a press release of Sept. 21, 09 by Article One:

Article One Partners, LLC has discovered new prior art impacting the validity of two Minerva Industries, Inc. patents for mobile entertainment and communications devices. Article One also announced the discovery of new evidence which can show Eli Lilly & Company?s patent for Cymbalta to be invalid, as verified by outside counsel. The discovery of this patent validity evidence can impact the industry litigation and continued innovation surrounding both cases.

?With Minerva, a non-practicing entity filed suit against an entire industry. And with Cymbalta, the patent has been asserted to prevent generic drug manufacturing. Both are great examples of patent disputes where the true cost is born by the public,? said Cheryl Milone, founder and CEO of Article One Partners. ?Article One Partners not only allows the public to weigh in directly, but provides rewards for a citizen review of the patent system. The community helps ensure the validity of patents that are being widely enforced.?
Minerva Industries, Inc. filed a lawsuit on January 22, 2008, alleging that Nokia, Palm and more than 30 cell phone manufacturers and providers infringed on its U.S. Patents for ?Mobile Entertainment and Communication Device? (Patent Nos. 6,681,120 and 7,321,783). The patents relate to add-on functional features for cellular phones and mobile devices. More than 200 references of prior art evidence were submitted by Advisors ? members of the Article One Community. The key evidence was provided by three Advisors with usernames Columbo, Ramesh and Singh, who will share the monetary reward of $50,000.

Cymbalta is the brand name for a drug used in the treatment of depression. Patent holder Eli Lilly and Company has claimed infringement by Sandoz, Inc. and others. Lilly?s Patent (U.S. Patent No. 5,023,269) covers a pharmaceutical composition including a selective serotonin and norepinepherine reuptake inhibitor (SSNRI). It is orally administered for depression and other disorders. With more than 150 references of prior art submitted, Advisor Columbo was first to identify the key evidence and will receive the $50,000 primary reward.

From a previous IPBiz post, titled
Article One announces prize award concerning US 6,784,873 :

Future targets of Article One:

Sony (alleged infringer) Blue-Ray disc drives technology (Sony is accused of patent infringement)
Apple's (patent owner) iPhone multi-touch technology
Emergency 911 location technology for mobile phone industry, including Verizon, AT&T, etc. (alleged infringers)
Eli Lilly's (patent owner) Cymbalta drug
AstraZeneca's (patent owner) Crestor drug
Penwest Pharmaceuticals (patent owner) Opana ER drug
Sepracor's (patent owner) Xyzal drug

(...)

[From the "winner" on US '873]-->

Ultimately I submitted tens of US Patents for consideration to AOP and none of them were the one that got me the GRMN prize. Only when I kept going and dug into WIPO patents did I come across the winner ? and I didn?t even know it when I found it. It was just one more item in a batch submission I made one week.

See also

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2009/05/articleone-and-mercks-singulair-need-to.html

**In passing, note that Lupin filed a paragraph IV certification [ ANDA 90-694 ] stating that the claims of the '269 patent are either invalid or would not be infringed. [Refer to filing within patent jacket of 4 Feb 09 mentioning SD Ind case 08-CV-1596].

Full post as published by IPBiz on September 21, 2009 (boomark / email).