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Features - April 2010
The university challenge
The number of patents owned by universities and the resulting revenue generated by licensing these patents has increased significantly in the last several decades. 1 A current estimate of yearly revenue generated by the...
Improving on the improvements problem
It is a truth universally acknowledged that it is desirable to improve, but what is an improvement? It seems an obvious question, but in the field of patent licensing the concept remains open to interpretation 1, 2 . In...
Bilski and biotech
On 16 September 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) issued its decision in Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. v Mayo Collaborative Services , which addressed the question of whether...
Case Comment - April 2010
The plausibility question
In the first UK case dealing with the validity of a gene sequence patent, the Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court’s view that the patent in question was invalid for lack of industrial applicability. The decision in...
News - April 2010
Advocate general advises against Monsanto in DNA patent case
EUROPE – US biotech firm Monsanto cannot use its European patent on the DNA sequence of its Roundup Ready soybean seeds to block Argentinean imports of processed soybean meal into the EU, according the European Court of...
Two out of three for Rambus in patent office ruling
UNITED STATES – The US Patent and Trademark Office issued a mixed ruling for chip maker Rambus, validating two of the three patents in its infringement suit against Nvidia. Nvidia had requested a USPTO review of the three...
Watson and Takeda resolve Actos litigation
UNITED STATES – US generic drugs company Watson Pharmaceuticals has settled its patent litigation with the Japanese firm Takeda Pharmaceuticals over, Takeda’s diabetes drug Actos (pioglitazone). Under the terms of...
People Watch - April 2010
IP attorney Michael Leonard joins Philadelphia IP boutique law firm
UNITED STATES – Panitch Schwarze Belisario & Nadel, a Philadelphia IP law firm, has appointed veteran trademark attorney Michael Leonard as partner. Leonard will head the firm’s trademark and copyright...
Benoît Battistelli elected next EPO president
EUROPE – The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation, meeting in Munich on 1 March 2010, elected Benoît Battistelli to succeed Alison Brimelow as president of the European Patent Office. ...
IP partner joins Latham & Watkins in Washington DC
UNITED STATES – Matthew Moore has joined Latham & Watkins as a partner in the firms Washington DC IP litigation department. He joins the firm from Howrey in Washington, DC. Moore received a law degree and bachelors in...
