Punke Nominated As WTO Ambassador; Stoll To Succeed Doll As US Patent Commissioner 03/09/2009 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Obama administration on Thursday announced several key changes related to intellectual property rights and trade.
Gene Patenting In Question In The US, EU; New Resistance Effort 02/09/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments A recent lawsuit involving patents on human genes related to cancer brought against the United States patent office, a biotechnology company and a foundation has attracted international attention to the issue of gene patenting, and on 27 August a group of influential associations voiced their opposition to such patents.
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.
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.
La revisión del caso Bilski por parte de la Corte Suprema de los EE.UU. podría repercutir en todo el sistema de patentes 12/08/2009 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment El pasado mes de octubre, un tribunal de apelación de los Estados Unidos modificó drásticamente la ley de patentes, acercando así las normas de este país a las de otros en lo relativo a las invenciones que se pueden patentar. El Tribunal de Apelación del Circuito Federal (apodado a menudo el “tribunal de patentes” de los EE.UU) anuló uno de sus precedentes fundamentales y redujo fuertemente los tipos de métodos y procesos que pueden ser objeto de protección mediante patentes. La decisión dejó en entredicho a miles de patentes, entre ellas muchas relacionadas con métodos comerciales y métodos financieros.
Members Of Human Rights Expert Committee At UN Question Patents On Food 07/08/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 7 Comments A group of experts working as a think-tank for the United Nations Human Rights Council raised the issue of patents and food at a meeting this week. Meanwhile, a new report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food expected to be available at the end of August will focus on the intersection between intellectual property and the human right to food.
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.
Too Pricey For A Patent? Glivec Rejected 09/07/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Novartis’s patent application for Glivec, a blood cancer drug, was recently ruled not patentable by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board of India (IPAB) for failing to meet the requirements under section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act, which states that a pharmaceutical derivative must demonstrate enhanced “efficacy” over the prior known molecule, according to Indian […]
EU Finds Anti-Competitive Abuse Of Pharmaceutical Patents, Launches Antitrust Action 08/07/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments Pharmaceutical companies are manipulating the intellectual property rights system and are “actively trying to delay the entry of generic medicines onto their markets,” a top EU official said of an EU inquiry into the pharmaceutical sector released Wednesday. As a result, there has been a decline in the number of innovative medicines getting to the market, it says.