Patent Baristas

Today’s book review is of the Annual Review of Intellectual Property Law Developments: 2006-2008 put out by the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Intellectual Property Law. The debut volume covers over 300 recent legal developments including Supreme Court cases, e.g., eBay, MedImmune, KSR, Quanta, and Microsoft v. AT&T; Federal Circuit en banc decisions, e.g., […]

President Barack Obama has announced his intent to nominate David J. Kappos as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. According to the press release: Mr. Kappos is Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Intellectual Property Law, for IBM Corporation. Based in Armonk, New York, […]

Today’s article looks at the life and practicalities of the Australian Innovation Patent system. Filing An innovation application can also be filed as a Paris Convention application, for example as an application claiming priority from a US provisional or non provisional utility application, or as a stand alone application, thus establishing its own priority date, […]

Patenting Genes WAMU Radio Station (88.5 FM) hosted a segment with Rebecca Roberts on patenting  gene-related products. The biotechnology industry says these patents are necessary to spur innovation. Opponents say they actually stifle science. We examine the intersection of cutting-edge genetic research and intellectual property. Guests included Hans Sauer, Associate General Counsel for Intellectual Property, […]

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to take up the In re Bilski case.  The Court will review a decision in a patent case which questions what things are patentable, including software and business strategies.  The applicants have filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court to appeal from the U.S. Court […]

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) ordered the reexamination of Merck’s biggest selling product, Singulair.  The challenged patent, U.S. Patent No. 5,565,473 (“Unsaturated Hydroxyalkylquinoline Acids as Leukotriene Antagonists,” issued October 15, 1996), covers montelukast sodium, the active ingredient in the $4.5 billion-a-year allergy and asthma drug. The request for reexam, No. 90/009,432, was made […]

After a final judgment upholding the validity of the Procter & Gamble Company U.S. Patent 5,583,122, Teva Pharmaceuticals appealed to the US United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit claiming invalidity defenses of obviousness and obviousness-type double patenting.  It fell on deaf ears as the Federal Circuit affirmed the validity. P&G v. Teva […]

Altana and Wyeth were thwarted in their attempt to block Teva Pharmaceuticals from infringing U.S. Patent No. 4,758,579, directed to the compound pantoprazole, the active ingredient in Altana’s antiulcer drug Protonix®. The compound pantoprazole belongs to a class of compounds known as proton pump inhibitors (“PPIs”) that are used to treat gastric acid disorders in […]