The countdown to the new Unitary Patent system has begun. The Unified Patent Court is expected to open its doors at the start of 2017, preceded by a provisional phase in 2016 for the practical set up of the Court and the recruitment of judges and staff. Not only European patent specialists are preparing, companies…
A patent holder’s application to reissue his patent with altered, broader claims was properly rejected by a patent examiner and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board based on the anticipation of the claims by prior art, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (In re Taylor,…
Astornet Technologies—the licensee of a method patent for securing “vehicular gate entries” at airports—could not sue three government contractors that allegedly induced or contributed to the direct infringement of the asserted patent by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled (Astornet Technologies Inc. v. BAE Systems,…
Since February 2015, hedge fund manager Kyle Bass has filed more than 30 petitions seeking Inter Partes review of U.S. patents covering approved pharmaceutical products. Kyle Bass even formed a special entity for this purpose–the Coalition for Affordable Drugs–with a stated goal of targeting patents that “have little value other than to drive up prescription…
by Dominic Adair Post-grant opposition of patents is clearly a dangerous business. On opening the final panel session in the programme for AIPPI’s 2015 World Congress in Rio – titled “post-grant oppositions: a game changer?” – moderator Márcio Merckl from Abreu, Merkl e Advogados Associados in Brazil provided the dramatic news that not one but…
by Dominic Adair Day 2 of AIPPI’s 2015 Global Congress in Rio brought with it the Pharma Sessions: trade marks, personalised medicine and two sessions with a local flavour – technology transfer under the Brazilian Government’s PDP programme (promoting local laboratories) and whether the practice of Brazil’s regulatory authority (ANVISA) to challenge patents prior to…
An inventor and holder of a patent for a “smokeless pipe” could not pursue a lawsuit against the United States in the Court of Federal Claims based on allegations that various private persons had infringed his patent, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has held. The inventor identified no law that permitted…
Since the scope of an amended patent claim was not substantially similar to the scope of the original claim, the patentee was not entitled to infringement damages for the period prior to the amendment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled (R+L Carriers, Inc. v. Qualcomm, Inc., September 17, 2015, O’Malley,…
A district court’s decision denying awards of attorney fees incurred by several mobile device and digital camera makers in successfully defending against patent infringement claims by Honeywell International Inc. has been vacated and remanded by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The district court was directed to reconsider whether the case was…
In Amgen v. Sandoz, Fed. Cir., No. 15-1499 (July 21, 2015), a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its first decision interpreting the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA), and did so in a manner that favors biosimilar applicants in one respect while favoring reference product sponsors (e.g., owners…
