Patent Baristas

The Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship unanimously passed the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2008 (S. 3362) to reauthorize the crucial Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. The bipartisan bill is the result of months of deliberations among Committee members and includes a pivotal compromise that would allow […]

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is proposing to ratchet up the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program award threshold amounts to offset the effect of inflation since the amounts were last set in 1992. Current threshold amounts are $100,000 for Phase I awards and $750,000 for Phase II awards. The SBA can adjust the […]

Gene Quinn, Jr., the force behind the Patent Briefs at the Practicing Law Institute, has struck out in a new venture.  Gene has now brought us a new patent blog, PatentFools.com.  PatentFools is described thusly: The point of PatentFools is to try and identify wrongs, articulate positions, influence decision-makers and have some fun saving the […]

Bloggers May Need to Yield Equal Time FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell (R) recently warned bloggers that the Commission’s decision to smack down Comcast  for hobbling Bit Torrent could lead the government to start “dictating content policy” by requiring blogs to give equal time to opposing views under the Fairness Doctrine.  We’re not sure if criticizing […]

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is adopting new rules governing the conduct of disciplinary investigations, issuing warnings when closing such investigations, disciplinary proceedings, non-disciplinary transfer to disability inactive status and reinstatement to practice before the Office. See Changes to Representation of Others Before the United States Patent and Trademark Office; Final Rule […]

Today’s Washington Post features a story on Ismed’s efforts to promote a follow-on biologics approval pathway here in Washington.  The article outlines the campaign by Insmed’s chief exec, Geoffrey Allan, to give Congress a lesson in biotechnology. The sudden outpouring of educational efforts on protein structures and drug pharmacology has to do with the fact […]

Billed as the ONE AND ONLY course where you will learn how to add value to your practice by drilling into the complex nuances of pharmaceutical and biotech patent opinion writing to reveal the strategies, solutions, and tactics for successfully tackling the issues, ACI’s Intensive Course in Pharmaceutical and Biotech Patent Opinion Writing will bring […]

In a notice labeled “Clarification of Patent Regulations Currently in Effect, and Revision in Applicability Date of Provisions Relating to Patent Applications Containing Patentably Indistinct Claim,” the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice to “clarify” just which patent-related regulations are currently in effect. The earlier proposed changes in the Claims and Continuations […]