Antigua Company Pushes Debate On Implementing WTO TRIPS Cross-Retaliation 03/09/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A website providing unlimited music and movies for a token price is seeking to take advantage of a 2007 World Trade Organisation ruling between the Caribbean nations of Antigua and Barbuda and the United States, which granted Antigua the right to suspend some US intellectual property rights obligations. The action raises questions about implementation of cross-retaliation rulings, in which the complaining country can seek damages in a different sector than that in which the harm was incurred.
Novartis Persists In Challenge To Indian Patent Law; India Rejects More AIDS Drugs Patents 02/09/2009 by Robinson Esalimba for Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments Undeterred by two previous decisions by Indian authorities holding that under Indian Patent Law, its leukaemia drug – Gleevec is not patentable, Novartis now wants to take the fight to the Indian Supreme Court. Meanwhile, also this week, sources say Indian authorities rejected applications for patents on two HIV/AIDS drugs, opening the way for cheaper generic versions to be developed and marketed.
Digital Library Europeana Said To Be Europe’s Answer to Google Books Settlement 28/08/2009 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Google’s settlement in the United States of copyright infringement claims by authors and book publishers faces strong opposition from European publishers. The deal does not apply to books outside the US and one Google official has suggested the need for a similar service in Europe. Could digital library Europeana be the solution? A 28 August European Commission policy statement addressed that concern and others.
India May Be Nearing Dispute Settlement With EU Over Generic Drug Seizures 28/08/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Ongoing concerns in India that their legitimate generic drug shipments are being delayed as potential counterfeits while in transit through Europe may reach the dispute settlement body at the World Trade Organization, according to sources.
EU, US Bristle As Drug Innovators Pay To Delay New Generics 25/08/2009 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Authorities in the European Union and the United States have recently taken a tougher stance against reverse payments – patent settlements whereby, according to many competition experts, dominant drug companies buy off potential rivals.
Indian High Court Rejects Bayer Complaint For Patent Linkage 21/08/2009 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch and Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Indian generics manufacturer Cipla can get marketing approval for its generic cancer treatment Soranib, the Delhi High Court ruled Tuesday, and the Indian drug regulatory authority does not have to check its patent status first. The court this week rejected a complaint by drug multinational Bayer against the Union of India, the Drug Controller General of India and generic drug producer Cipla. Bayer sought a court order requiring DCGI to consider the patent status of kidney cancer drug, sorafenib tosylate (sold under the brand name Nexavar), before granting marketing approval for a generic version of the drug. At issue was whether it is legitimate to link a potential violation of IP rights to processes regulating a drug’s entry onto the market that are generally based on drug quality, efficacy and safety.
Financial Services, Patent Experts Seek More Certainty On Business-Method Patents, Bilski Case 31/07/2009 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments NEW YORK – Patent lawyers from financial services companies and other firms this week said they are hopeful that change at the US Patent and Trademark Office will bring solutions to their concerns with the business method patents, application backlogs, patent quality problems, transparency and other issues.
US Supreme Court Review Of Bilski Could Reverberate Through Patent System 31/07/2009 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Last October, a United States appellate court shifted the country’s patent law dramatically, moving the nation closer to other countries’ standards on what inventions can be patented. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (often called America’s “patent court”) overruled its own seminal precedent and sharply cut back on the types of methods and processes that are eligible for patent protection. The ruling put thousands of patents under a cloud, including many business method patents and financial method patents. This controversial ruling will soon be reviewed by the US Supreme Court. The resulting decision in Bilski v. Doll could become a milestone in US patent law, with repercussions around the world.
EU Report Finds Fault With US Barriers To IP 27/07/2009 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments The European Commission on Monday released a report finding fault with a number of United States practices related to intellectual property rights policy, on copyright, geographical indications, trademarks and patents. The report is an answer, one might say, to the US Special 301 report that criticises US trading partners it deems unilaterally to be insufficiently protecting its companies’ IP rights.
Life-Saving Mosquito Nets Subject Of Tiff Over Trade Secrets 17/07/2009 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment COPENHAGEN – While sales of insecticide-treated bed nets have skyrocketed in recent years and boosting their use is among the UN Millennium Development Goals, two producers of the nets have been caught in a rigorous legal case involving trade secrets. Now the English High Court has ruled that one of the companies, Bestnet, has misused the trade secrets of the other company, Vestergaard Frandsen (VF).