Patent Baristas

An Australian Federal Court decision provides a reminder to diligently review issued patent claims in view of newly-emerged prior art before filing suit.  Apotex Pty Ltd v Les Laboratoires Servier (No 2) [2009] FCA 1019. In the suit, there was a corresponding British patent which had been held invalid in view of certain prior art. […]

The Australian Full Federal Court has upheld an earlier decision that the duty to perform research in an employment contract did not give rise to an implied duty to invent, even though the nature of the research was such that inventions could quite likely result.  See University of Western Australia v Gray 9[2009] FCAFC 116 […]

Korea is a first-to-file or absolute novelty country, which does not allow an invention to be made available to the public (anywhere in the world) before filing an application for the invention.  Specifically, Article 29(1) of the Korean Patent Act provides that the novelty of an invention is destroyed where: the invention was publicly known […]

Bill Bennett, of Pizzeys in Australia, sent a note detailing how in order to be eligible for an extension of term, the patent in question must claim “one or more pharmaceutical substances per se”, and there must have been a delay of more than 5 years between the date on which the patent was filed […]

Schneider Electric, a provider of power and control solutions headquartered in France, just settled a three-year patent litigation suit with Chint, one of the largest manufacturers of low- voltage devices in China. The settlement amount of CNY 157.5 million (about USD 23 million) paid by Schneider is believed to be the largest for a patent […]

The Japanese Government’s IP Strategic Headquarters announced plans to revise the patent examination standards for medical inventions of known drug compounds. The new standard will grant patent protection for new and inventive dosage regimens and modes of administration as a “product-related invention” provided the claimed medicament has remarkable effects beyond that which is expected by […]

Now, provisional exclusive and/or non-exclusive licenses can be registered at the Japan Patent Office based on a license agreement effective before an application is granted a patent. The new recordation system will provide protection for the licensee regarding the pending patent application against any third party who subsequently acquires the right to the license to […]

Innovation patents are second tier patents similar to utility models, having a lower threshold for patentability and a relatively short term of eight years compared to standard patents. A recent appeal court decision confirms that inventions that include features that are known and obvious can still sustain valid innovation patent protection in Australia. The Decision […]