Everything Is Obvious 25/03/2019 by Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments Ryan Abbott writes: For more than sixty years, “obviousness” has set the bar for patentability. Under this standard, if a hypothetical “person having ordinary skill in the art” would find an invention obvious in light of existing relevant information, then the invention cannot be patented. This skilled person is defined as a non-innovative worker with a limited knowledge-base. The more creative and informed the skilled person, the more likely an invention will be considered obvious. The standard has evolved since its introduction, and it is now on the verge of an evolutionary leap: Inventive machines are increasingly being used in research, and once the use of such machines becomes standard, the person skilled in the art should be a person using an inventive machine, or just an inventive machine. Unlike the skilled person, the inventive machine is capable of innovation and considering the entire universe of prior art. As inventive machines continue to improve, this will increasingly raise the bar to patentability, eventually rendering innovative activities obvious. The end of obviousness means the end of patents, at least as they are now.
Interview With Charles Gore, Medicines Patent Pool Executive Director 22/03/2019 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Charles Gore took over the role of Executive Director at the Medicines Patent Pool in July 2018, just after its board decided to greatly expand its mandate into essential medicines. Nine months into his term, IP-Watch’s William New talked with him about his role and how the expansion is going.
South Africa Moves Forward With Creator Rights Agenda 21/03/2019 by Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments Prof. Sean Flynn writes: The South Africa National Council of Provinces has cleared the Copyright Amendment Bill for a final vote. The bill would adopt an innovative fair use right as well as new rights of creators to receive royalties, partially own commissioned works, protect works through technological protections (with exceptions for fair use), establish of a tribunal for lower cost enforcement and regulate collective management companies. It establishes what is being referred to as a creator rights model for copyright reform including rights to create, own and earn.
Innovation And Regulation Of Gene-Edited Vegetables: An Interview With IP Lawyer Chris Holly 05/03/2019 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Chris Holly is a practicing intellectual property lawyer with extensive experience helping clients leverage IP portfolios in the agriculture, food, microbiology and biotechnology industries. Intellectual Property Watch’s David Branigan interviewed Holly to gain his perspective on the technological, regulatory and intellectual property considerations of next generation plant breeding techniques, in particular those that involve gene editing using CRISPR technology.
Will US Drug Pricing Politics Change Intimidation Practices Globally? 05/03/2019 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Fifa Rahman writes: The global health world, particularly as concerns skyrocketing drug prices and patent abuse, is in a unique space in time. Recently, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has been carrying on as per usual. It has threatened the Malaysian and Colombian governments at numerous junctures to prevent them from issuing compulsory licences – a completely legal mechanism which the US uses regularly – to access generic hepatitis C drugs. The Trump Administration has sent delegations to global health agencies in Geneva to intimidate them into reducing, or hiding, work on TRIPS flexibilities and fairer drug pricing.
In US, No Remedies For Growing IP Infringements 04/03/2019 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Ubi Jus Ibi Remedium. Alas, that longstanding legal principle – where there’s a right, there’s a remedy – doesn’t apply to IP owners in the US. Thanks to several Supreme Court rulings interpreting the US Constitution, owners of patents have no recourse when their IP is infringed by US states. Copyright owners now face the same fate, unless the Supreme Court reverses a recent 4th Circuit decision.
Rise Of The Machines: Experts Look At AI, Robotics And The Law 27/02/2019 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments NEW YORK — Artificial intelligence, robots, and the law, are all changing a rapid pace. A panel of experts at a recent event at Fordham Law School discussed latest developments and signs of the limits of the law when applied to AI areas like facial recognition, automated weapons systems, and financial technology.
Faced With Unreasonable Medicines Prices, The Netherlands Introduces Pharmacy Exemption In Patent Law 22/02/2019 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Ellen ‘t Hoen writes: On 1 February 2019, article 53(3), second sentence of the Dutch Patent Act 1995 came into force introducing a patent exemption for the preparation of medicines in a pharmacy.
WIPO Event: AI On All Fronts – Health, Cities, Agriculture – But Investment Needed; Europe Lagging 12/02/2019 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Artificial intelligence is with us to stay, and you can expect solutions to great challenges, but governments should be prepared to invest in education and research to keep up with the two global leaders of the field: the United States and China. This is in essence what several speakers said recently at an event held at the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Pre-Grant Opposition Filed Against Janssen’s Bedaquiline Fumarate Application In India 08/02/2019 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Tuberculosis and its variant – Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (DR-TB) – are global public health emergencies. Current treatment regimens are expensive, tedious and prolonged: the overall treatment duration is 20 months or more, requiring daily administration of drugs that are more toxic and less effective than those used to treat drug-susceptible TB. Most of the drugs for treating TB are old and are known to have severe side-effects, writes Sandeep K. Rathod.