Patent Baristas

I received an updated reminder from our associates in Taiwan, Tai E International Patent & Law Office, regarding filing patent applications in Taiwan. Many people know that

Taiwan is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and that it recognizes claims for priority rights from citizens of all WTO member states. Therefore, nationals of WTO member states and applicants having their place of business or residence in such states, who have filed their first patent application legally for an invention in a member state of the WTO or in a foreign country that allows Taiwan nationals to claim priority based on reciprocity, and then have filed their patent application for the same invention in Taiwan within twelve months from the filing date of their first patent application in that foreign country, may claim priority in their Taiwan application. In this regard, the application in Taiwan will be treated as if it had been filed on the same date as the first application filed in the WTO member country or the country with a specific reciprocal agreement.
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As if the waters at the FDA needed further muddying, a special panel of the US Food and Drug Administration voted last Thursday to allow Pfizer’s pain killer Celebrex to remain on the market, despite a finding that it can cause heart problems in some patients. The panelists voted 31-1 to keep Pfizer’s Celebrex on sale and, after a revote, favored Pfizer’s Bextra 17-13 with two abstaining. The vote for Merck’s Vioxx was 17-16, in favor of keeping the drug on the market. The panel noted that Celebrex, Bextra and Vioxx all pose a risk of heart trouble, but should be available to those who need them.

Apparently, not all cox-2 inhibitors are created equally. Structurally, they are very similar but based upon data from the clinical studies, these 3 drugs provide different side-effect profiles. Pfizer must be happy about that.
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Even while their battle over Lipitor continues, Pfizer has sued Ranbaxy Laboratories in District Court for patent infringement of its patent on Accupril (the generic name is quinapril), an anti-hypertensive with annual sales of $550 million. Pfizer is suing on U.S. Patent No. 4,743,450, which covers the use of lactose and microcrystalline cellulose for the stabilization of quinapril.
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If you can’t beat them, buy them……………

Novartis AG announced today (Feb. 21, 2005) that it will buy generic drugmakers Eon Labs of the United States and Hexal AG of Germany for $8.3 billion, creating the world’s largest generic drug company.

Novartis Chief Executive Daniel Vasella has made no secret of his desire to build up the Swiss group’s Sandoz generics business, the world’s second biggest behind Israel’s Teva through acquisitions. But he did not want to overpay, especially since many analysts believe the fundamentals of the German generic drugs market may be deteriorating, putting margins under pressure.

Novartis said it will buy all of Hexal and the two-thirds of Eon Labs that the German company owns for 5.65 billion euros (about $7.3 billion). In addition, Novartis expects to spend close to $1 billion to buy the remaining Eon Labs shares, which trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
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Medtronic, Inc. announced that a Delaware jury rendered verdicts in patent litigation between Medtronic and the ACS subsidiary of Guidant Corporation. The jury found the Guidant Lau patents valid and infringed by some of Medtronic stents, including the S7 and Driver stents. However, there will be another hearing regarding Medtronic’s claim that Guidant’s patent is unenforceable due to “inequitable conduct,” which of course, is every patent litigators way of saying hello to the other side. Medtronic claims Guidant showed “willful disregard of patent filing procedures.”
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The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has published a manual entitled “Exchanging Value – Negotiating Technology Licensing Agreements,” which provides a review of some of the basic issues that arise in licensing negotiations of intellectual property, particularly patents. The publication offers a practical introduction to negotiating licensing agreements and is designed to address the needs and concerns of non-specialists. The Guide focuses on the identification, acquisition and transfer, through licensing agreements, of intellectual property, in particular patent-protected technologies.

This begs the question: “Why is WIPO, a specialized branch of the UN, publishing a booklet on negotiating licensing agreements?”

Whatever the reason and for what it’s worth, “Exchanging Value – Negotiating Technology Licensing Agreements” is currently available online from WIPO’s website at www.wipo.int/ebookshop/ or from the ITC’s website at www.intracen.org/eshop.

The Baristas have updated their look and gotten a new attitude.  Thanks to Barbara, at CaricatureConnection, we now have new images on our Get to Know Your Baristas page. 

We’ll be brewing up news and comments on a regular basis and appreciate your comments and suggestions. Let us know if you like our new look.  Hope you enjoy our site.

Stephen and I attended a breakfast meeting on Wednesday morning. It started at 8:00 A.M. He was there on time. He is very good at that. I, of course, was late as usual. BT (before toddlers), I was either early or on time. AT (you can figure out what it stands for), I feel like I am in slow motion or reverse motion. Who knows, maybe Brownian motion will be next, but I digress….

The meeting was hosted by Omeris. Omeris, founded in 1986 as Edison BioTechnology Center, is a non-profit organization designed to build and accelerate bioscience industry, research, and education in Ohio. As Ohio’s bioscience membership and development organization, they are focused on networking the bioscience assets of Ohio.

The purpose of the breakfast meeting was for Omeris , in partnership with Cincinnati USA and BIO/START, to present Phase I data on their Targeted Asset Based Company Attraction Strategy. This Phase I data strongly support Phase II, in which Omeris will develop 2-3 Target Asset Clusters. The presentation was given by 3 of the principals at Omeris, Anthony J. Dennis, Ph.D., president, John F. Lewis Jr., vice-president and Catharina Maulbecker-Armstrong, senior consultant .
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