Patent Law

USPTO Extends Deadline for Patent Application Exchange Program

Posted on November 25, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- On Monday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it was extending the deadline for the Project Exchange program. Under the Project Exchange program, an applicant can have an application accorded special status for examination if the applicant expressly abandons another co-pending unexamined application...

USPTO Launches Twitter Account

Posted on November 25, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced the official launch of its Twitter account. The USPTO can now be followed at www.twitter.com/uspto. The Office, which launched a Facebook page in August (see "USPTO Launches Facebook Page"), expects to provide brief, daily updates through its Twitter account...

FTC Continues Attempts to Block Reverse Payments

Posted on November 24, 2010
By Kevin E. Noonan -- The Federal Trade Commission is nothing if not persistent in trying to eliminate "reverse payment" settlements in ANDA litigation, even going so far as to "forum shop" to do so, according to a brief by appellees Unimed Pharmaceuticals LLC, Abbott Products, Inc...

IPO and BIO Submit Comments on USPTO Reexamination Voucher Proposal

Posted on November 23, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- Earlier this fall, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it was seeking comments regarding a proposal to incentivize the creation and distribution of humanitarian technologies by offering fast-track ex parte reexamination vouchers to patent holders "demonstrating humanitarian uses of patented technologies" (see "USPTO Looking for Ways to Incentivize Humanitarian Technologies")...

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Symposium on Role of Intellectual Property in Development

Posted on November 23, 2010
The World Bank Legal Vice Presidency will be hosting a Symposium on "The Role of Intellectual Property in Development" on Thursday, December 16, 2010 from 12:30 to 4:15 pm at its headquarters in Washington, DC. The Symposium is being coordinated by Ms...

Wrapping up the Issues from the FDA Hearings on Biosimilars

Posted on November 22, 2010
By James DeGiulio -- Earlier this month, we reported that a major issue discussed at the Food and Drug Administration's public hearings on the implementation of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA) concerned the standards that the FDA will require for clinical testing of biosimilars (see "Clinical Trial Requirements Are Top Issue at FDA Hearings on Biosimilars")...

Court Report

Posted on November 22, 2010
By Sherri Oslick -- About Court Report: Each week we will report briefly on recently filed biotech and pharma cases. Promote Innovation LLC v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. 2:10-cv-00497; filed November 18, 2010 in the Eastern District of Texas False marking based on BMS' marking of its Cefzil products, its Buspar products, and its Pravachol products U...

Conference & CLE Calendar

Posted on November 22, 2010
November 30 to December 1, 2010 - 12th Advanced Forum on Biotech Patents (American Conference Institute) - Boston, MA December 6, 2010 - 21st Annual Conference on USPTO Law and Practice (PTO Day) (Intellectual Property Owners Association and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) - Washington, DC December 7-8, 2010 - Developing IP Strategies for Crystalline Forms*** (International Quality & Productivity Center) - London, England December 8, 2010 - Biotechnology/Chemical/Pharmaceutical (BCP) Customer Partnership Meeting (U...

USPTO Announces Agenda for Next BCP Customer Partnership Meeting

Posted on November 20, 2010
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has announced the agenda for the next biotechnology/chemical/pharmaceutical (BCP) customer partnership meeting to be held on December 8, 2010. The proposed agenda is as follows: Morning Session ? Greetings and Overview (10:00 - 10:15 am EDT): Jackie Stone, George Elliott, and Remy Yucel, Directors, Technology Center 1600 ? PPH/Workshare (10:15 - 11:00 am): Bruce Kisliuk, Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations for Chemical Disciplines ? Break (11:00 - 11:15 am) ? Patents End-to End: Update and Focus Session (11:15 am - 12:50 pm): Christian Chace, Project Director, Patent Process Reengineering - this session will...

ACI Patent Term Adjustment and Patent Term Extension Conference

Posted on November 20, 2010
American Conference Institute (ACI) will be holding a conference entitled "The Life Sciences Lawyer's Guide to Patent Term Adjustment and Patent Term Extensions" on January 26-27, 2011 in New York, NY. ACI faculty will help attendees: ? Understand the unique role of PTE and PTA in patent life cycle management for the life sciences industry; ? Master the essentials of PTA from questions of eligibility and calculation to the application process to procedures for redress; ? Decipher the mysteries of A, B and C-delays; ? Learn to solve the A and B-delay overlap dilemma and B-delay National Stage queries vis-à-vis...

Biotech/Pharma Docket

Posted on November 19, 2010
By James DeGiulio -- Otsuka Abilify Patent Found Valid and Enforceable Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. won a key court ruling that upheld its patent covering Abilify, thereby preventing Teva, Apotex, and Sandoz from releasing generic versions of the drug until April 2015...

USPTO Releases 2010 Performance and Accountability Report

Posted on November 18, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- On Tuesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released its Performance and Accountability Report for FY 2010. With respect to the Office's performance goals, the report indicates that 64% of performance targets were met. The report identifies three strategic goals, each comprising several objectives: 1...

Cancer Research Technology Ltd. v. Barr Laboratories, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2010)

Posted on November 17, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- Last week, in Cancer Research Technology Ltd. v. Barr Laboratories, Inc., the Federal Circuit reversed the decision by the District Court for the District of Delaware holding U.S. Patent No. 5,260,291 unenforceable for prosecution laches and inequitable conduct...

Hyatt v. Kappos (Fed. Cir. 2010)

Posted on November 16, 2010
By Kevin E. Noonan -- The Supreme Court has spent a decade second-guessing (and in large part overturning) decisions of the Federal Circuit in the exercise of its unique mission to harmonize patent law. Sometimes this oversight has been occasioned to disputes between different members of the appellate court (e...

Court Report

Posted on November 15, 2010
By Sherri Oslick -- About Court Report: Each week we will report briefly on recently filed biotech and pharma cases. Astrazeneca UK Ltd. et al. v. Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. et al. 2:10-cv-01969; filed November 11, 2010 in the District Court of Nevada ? Plaintiffs: Astrazeneca UK Ltd...

Conference & CLE Calendar

Posted on November 15, 2010
November 15-16, 2010 - European Pharmaceutical Regulatory Law Boot Camp*** (American Conference Institute) - New York, NY November 15-16, 2010 - Patent Litigation 2010 (Practising Law Institute) - New York, NY (Groupcasts to be held in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Mechanicsburg, PA) November 18, 2010 - Current Developments in Trilateral Offices (Intellectual Property Owners Association) - Washington, DC November 30 to December 1, 2010 - 12th Advanced Forum on Biotech Patents (American Conference Institute) - Boston, MA December 6, 2010 - 21st Annual Conference on USPTO Law and Practice (PTO Day) (Intellectual Property Owners Association and U...

Current Developments in the Trilateral Offices

Posted on November 13, 2010
The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) will offer a two-hour seminar entitled "Current Developments in Trilateral Offices" on Thursday, November 18, 2010 from 12:30 to 2:30 PM (ET) at the Capital Hilton, 1001 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC...

Biotech/Pharma Docket

Posted on November 12, 2010
By James DeGiulio -- Roche Succeeds in Blocking Release of Cobalt's Generic Boniva Hoffman-La Roche successfully secured a preliminary injunction against Cobalt Pharmaceuticals in the patent suit over the bone-loss drug Boniva, thus preventing Cobalt from launching a generic version of the drug...

Amicus Briefs in AMP v. USPTO: Genetic Alliance

Posted on November 11, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- In an amicus brief filed in Association of Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Genetic Alliance has joined nine other amici (of which Patent Docs is aware) in supporting the reversal of the District Court's decision in the case...

Clinical Trial Requirements Are Top Issue at FDA Hearings on Biosimilars

Posted on November 11, 2010
By James DeGiulio -- Last week, the Food and Drug Administration began gathering information on how to implement the new biosimilar approval pathway of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (see "FDA Planning to Hold Public Hearings on Biosimilar Approval Pathway")...

BIO and AUTM File Joint Amicus Brief in AMP v. USPTO

Posted on November 10, 2010
By Kevin E. Noonan -- On October 29, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) filed an amici curiae brief in AMP v. USPTO (the Myriad case). Fittingly (in view of the interest, financial and otherwise, of their members in patented genetic technologies), the brief is focused on the patent-eligibility of isolated DNA (it expressly does not reach the patent-eligibility of the method claim invalidated by the District Court)...

Abbott Files Reply Brief in Therasense Case

Posted on November 09, 2010
By Kevin E. Noonan -- Abbott has filed its reply brief in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co., and it is timely to discuss this brief on the eve of oral argument before the en banc Federal Circuit. The brief begins by noting the many areas of agreement between the parties, the U...

Tech Transfer Summit

Posted on November 09, 2010
Tech Transfer Summit Ltd. will be holding the North American and European portions of its Tech Transfer Summit on November 22-23, 2010 in Toronto, Canada and on December 13-14, 2010 in Strasbourg, France. The Summit focuses on dialogue, partnering, licensing and technology transfer between public sector research technology transfer offices and senior industry licensing and business development executives, and serves as an international think-tank for technology transfer professionals, researchers, business angels, Government funding bodies, venture capitalists, financiers and financial service providers, and the legal profession in the biotechnology and life sciences sectors...

Court Report

Posted on November 08, 2010
By Sherri Oslick -- About Court Report: Each week we will report briefly on recently filed biotech and pharma cases. Astellas US LLC et al. v. Nycomed U.S. Inc. 1:10-cv-08274; filed November 2, 2010 in the Southern District of New York ? Plaintiffs: Astellas US LLC; Astellas Pharma Inc...

Conference & CLE Calendar

Posted on November 08, 2010
November 8, 2010 - Advanced Patent Licensing 2010: Current Developments and Best Practices (Practising Law Institute) - New York, NY (Groupcasts to be held in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Mechanicsburg, PA) November 8-9, 2010 - Patent Litigation 2010 (Practising Law Institute) - Atlanta, GA November 9, 2010 - "The Ethical Ramofications of Therasense" (Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law and Federal Circuit Bar Association Charitable and Educational Fund) - 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm (EST) November 15-16, 2010 - European Pharmaceutical Regulatory Law Boot Camp*** (American Conference Institute) - New York, NY November 15-16, 2010 - Patent Litigation...

Panel Discussion on Therasense v. Becton-Dickinson

Posted on November 06, 2010
The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law and Federal Circuit Bar Association Charitable and Educational Fund will be holding a panel discussion entitled "The Ethical Ramofications of Therasense" from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm (EST) on November 9, 2010...

Biotech/Pharma Docket

Posted on November 05, 2010
By James DeGiulio -- Sanofi and BMS Awarded $442M in Plavix Patent Suit Apotex has been ordered to pay $442.2 million in damages to sanofi-aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. for infringing their patent covering the blood thinner Plavix. Sanofi sued Apotex in the U...

AIPLA Submits Amicus Brief in AMP v. USPTO

Posted on November 04, 2010
By Kevin E. Noonan -- The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) filed an amicus brief in the Myriad case (Association of Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office), in support of neither party but advocating reversal. While making many of the arguments made by Myriad and other amici, the brief contains at least one definitive (albeit prescient) rebuttal of the arguments made by the Justice Department in its ill-advised brief (see "DOJ Tries to Be All Things to All Constituencies in Myriad Amicus Brief")...

IPO Files Amicus Brief in AMP v. USPTO

Posted on November 03, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- In an amicus brief filed last Friday with the Federal Circuit in Association of Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) sets forth the organization's views regarding "two issues of vital importance to the proper functioning of the patent system...

AMP v. USPTO -- Briefing Update

Posted on November 02, 2010
By Donald Zuhn -- On October 22, Defendants-Appellants Myriad Genetics, Inc. and ten Directors of the University of Utah Research Foundation filed their brief in Association of Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (see "Myriad Files Appeal Brief in AMP v...

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