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John Richards (Ladas & Parry LLP, New York) identifies the problem that filing a patent involves a prior art search which is probably not as focussed as searched that occur in litigation and therefore the patent might require later amendment. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) takes a very strict approach to amendment in…
Penny Gilbert from Powell Gilbert LLP explains the position of biosimilars in the pharmaceutical industry. Biosimilars are essentially generic versions of biologics. Traditional generic compounds are chemical reproductions of the patented compound which makes regulatory approval more straightforward. Biological compounds (proteins or antibodies which are produced from genes) are not identical with one another and…
Adam Mossoff (Professor of Law, George Mason University) states that much of the focus in the USA is around litigation, but patents are not simply tools for litigation, they are commercial assets. Litigation is more public than confidential private transactions and therefore has disproportionate focus. He remarked that the ‘sewing machine wars’ of the 1850s…
There has been an explosion of anti-trust cases at the EC, which is of concern to the Deputy Director for Antitrust (European Commission) Cecilio Madero Villarejo. Some of these cases involve non-EU companies. It is the view of the EC that IPRs can be exercised in a way which falls foul of competition principles. He…
A panel of international judges gave their interesting perspectives on the tribunals on which they serve and the cases which they hear. Annabelle Bennett (Federal Court of Australia) discussing case management in Australia introducing reforms to streamline procedure and how this has been successful (in taking some power away from the lawyers). In particular, she…
Dimitrios T Drivas (White & Case) gave the speedy run down on the following points and cases, which some might find useful for following up on points of interest: Supreme Court The decision that in exceptional cases reasonable attorney’s fees may be paid to the prevailing party (an exception to the rule that each party…
The Unitary Patent and the UPC in Practice Paul England (Taylor Wessing) described the infringement position under the UPC Agreement and the UP Regulation (1257/2012). He explained that there was concern that the UP Regulation infringement provisions would be referable to the CJEU which was seen as undesirable and these were replaced with Article 5(3). This…
A View from the Task Force and the Judiciary The topic of injunctions under the UPCA was raised by Johannes Karcher (Head of the Task Force, EU Patent and Unified Patent Court, Germany) with particular focus on the discretion of the Court by a rule specifying the Court ‘may’ provisionally grant an injunction (an interim…
In a recent decision of the UK Intellectual Property Office, an applicant for a UK patent was allowed to file a response to an examination report (“office action”) more than 18 months after the due date for response originally set in the examination report. This is an extraordinary effective extension of time, obtained well after…
The crucial decision of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) on Spain’s objections to the Unitary Patent Package will be delivered on 5 May 2015. The date was published on the CJEU’s website earlier this week. The decision could remove what is widely seen as the last major stumbling block for the creation of the…
