Latest News & Features
Americas
On November 5, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Medtronic Inc v Boston Scientific Corporation case to determine whether the patent holder or licensee bears the burden of proof in matters where declaratory judgment of non-infringement has been sought. 11 November 2013
Americas
A federal court has upheld a ruling that biotech company Illumina should pay rival Syntrix $115 million and an 8 percent running royalty rate for patent infringement. 8 November 2013
Americas
US pharmaceutical company Forest Laboratories and drug company Actavis have settled a legal dispute over a patent protecting blood pressure drug Bystoli (nebivolol). 8 November 2013
Europe
The UK Patents Court has referred four questions to the CJEU seeking clarification on how the SPC Regulation should be interpreted in relation to drug products made of a combination of active ingredients. 7 November 2013
Americas
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed on Tuesday that pharmaceutical company Pfizer can patent a DNA polynucleotide ahead of rival Sanofi-Aventis. 6 November 2013
Americas
A US trademark for Botulex would be too confusingly similar to Botox if granted, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has ruled. 6 November 2013
Americas
The US District Court for the Northern District of California has found that diagnostic claims covering conventional detection methods do not make the use of a natural phenomenon patent eligible. 6 November 2013
Americas
Novartis has urged the FDA to allow biosimilars to bear the same international nonproprietary names as their reference products. 1 November 2013
Asia
The Indian Patent Office has rejected an application for a compulsory licence that was filed by domestic drug maker BDR Pharmaceuticals. 31 October 2013
Biotechnology
Europe’s highest court has said supplementary protection certificates for plant protection products cannot be granted after the same product has been authorised on emergency grounds. 31 October 2013