Latest News & Features
Americas
The manner in which some Canadian judges have applied the ‘promise’ doctrine has been criticised as arbitrary and subjective, note Declan Hamill and Megan Kendall of Innovative Medicines Canada, the association of Canada’s innovative pharmaceutical industry. 7 January 2016
Biotechnology
A grace period would give German inventors more flexibility to deal with different rules set by scientific publications and patenting procedures, and allow them to seek patent rights without the fear of prior disclosure, as Michael Kahnert of BIO Deutschland reports. 5 January 2016
Americas
The smartphone wars may have slowed down but many smaller high-tech companies continue to assert their IP rights against competitors, as the fitness tracker battle shows. Fabio Marino and Luc Dahlin of McDermott Will & Emery report. 22 December 2015
Big Pharma
The complex rules around the filing of divisional applications relating to priority of patent claims are designed to maintain the integrity of the first-to-file system, as Ashley Roughton of Nabarro explains. 17 December 2015
Big Pharma
The application of supplementary protection certificates to the unitary patent system poses numerous complexities, both legal and practical, as Christopher Stothers and Paul Abbott of Arnold & Porter describe. 10 December 2015
Europe
The unitary patent and UPC would still go ahead, but what would be the impact for the life sciences sector if the UK voted to leave the EU? Victoria Bentley and Helen Cline of Pinsent Masons investigate. 3 December 2015
Americas
Following the Federal Circuit’s ruling in Amgen v Sandoz, biosimilar applicants should weigh up several factors when deciding whether to opt into the so-called patent dance. Gerard Norton and Michael Montgomery of Fox Rothschild discuss the potential strategies. 3 December 2015
Americas
Sandoz has brought to market its generic pregabalin product with a full label in the UK and a skinny label in France. Varuni Paranavitane of Osborne Clarke reports on court rulings in the UK, and most recently France, on actions brought by Warner-Lambert against Sandoz. 26 November 2015
Africa
Fewer IPR petitions are instituted against biotech and pharma patents, and there is a higher survival rate of instituted claims in final written decisions compared to all technical fields combined. Melissa Gibson and Ruben Munoz of Akin Gump analyse the statistics. 26 November 2015
Americas
The proliferation of brands, combined with the financial and PR consequences of a potential rebrand in the event of infringement, has made selecting a trademark trickier than ever. Christina Martini and Virginia Wolk Marino of DLA Piper report. 19 November 2015