Newsletter (IP Convergence)

Issue: Nov 2009

IP NEWS

India IP News

French Customs Authorities Seize Generic Drugs

French Customs authorities have seized shipments of the drug clopidogrel, which was on the way to Venezuela from India. The authorities seized the drugs based on patent violation during transit though the supply of drugs to Venezuela was legal. Though the drugs have now been released, India believes that the seizure violates WTO norms and plans to take up the matter with the European Union.

Sixth Sense software to be open source

Pranav Mistry the creator of SixthSense system said at a conference in India that the software used in the device would be made available as an open source software. SixthSense' is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information. The software once available will enable its integration with any device of choice. Pranav, an IIT Graduate, invented the technology as a researcher at MIT.

Glenmark and Medicis settle and enter into license agreement

Glenmark challenged the validity of two patents held by Medicis relating to skin diseases. The patents related to drugs called as Vanos and Loprox gel. The parties have now settled the patent suit. As per the settlement, Glenmark will withdraw the patent invalidity suit against Medicis and in return will get the right to launch 'Vanos' in the market about 7-10 years before patent expiry.

Glenmark has also licensed its patented product for treatment of acne to Medicis for development. In return, Glenmark received five million dollars as lumpsum royalty and will receive additional royalty on reaching certain milestones.

World IP News

Bill to prevent Pay-for-Delay Settlement agreements

The US Senate Judiciary Committee has passed a Bill entitled “Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act in order to restrict Pay-for-Delay settlements. The Bill aims to prevent large patent holding companies from entering into settlement agreements with generic companies in order to delay launching of equivalent and cheaper generic drugs. The Bill adds a section to the Clayton Act, US Anti-trust law, which makes such agreements anti-competitive and illegal.

Challenge to Patents Over Breast Cancer genes continues

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the constitutional validity of patents over breast cancer genes, which were granted to University of Utah and licensed to Myriad Genetics. The case was filed before the District Court of the Southern District of New Yor. ACLU argued in the plaint that grant of patents over such genes violates the freedom of expression provided by the US Constitution. In response, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the case and the motion was rejected by the judge allowing the case to continue.

Examining Patent Examination_ An article by Mark A.Lemely and Bhaven Sampat

In their report, Mr. Mark A. Lemely (Partner at Durie Tangri LLP) and Mr. Bhaven Sampat (Professor, Columbia school of public health) have identified a group of utility patent applications filed in the month of January 2001 which were published by April 2006 and have followed these applications (9,960 applications) through the process. The Authors have used PAIR data from the USPTO to report about the way the USPTO treats patent applications. The report indicates that almost 3/4th of the applications that issue as a patent do not receive a final “rejection”. The report also goes on to mention as to what industries opt for filing continuation and what industries take the route of filing an RCE (Request for Continued Examination). An excerpt from the report states that “The industries that use traditional continuations generally track our expectations – they are most common in the chemical and biotechnological industries, where obtaining patent protection quickly is less important. By contrast, RCEs are more common in the computer and communications industries, where applicants are two to three times more likely to use RCEs than to use continuations, perhaps reflecting their “need for speed” given shorter product life-cycles.” This report also throws light on the importance of after final practice. The report can be accessed at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1485011.

Source Code of a tool for Windows to be made available under GPL

Source code of a tool designed to streamline the creation of bootable Windows 7 RTM DVDs and USBs will now be made available. The tool was earlier provided on the Microsoft Store as a free download by the Redmond company. Later, the tool was withdrawn after allegations that the tool included code covered under the General Public License (GPL) and was not complying with terms of the License. Microsoft has now decided to make the source code of the tool available in compliance with GPL.

Serial Attacks of patent infringement on Shazam

After Shazam (iphone application makers) being sued by a company called Tune Hunter, in May 2009, now Digimarc has targeted Shazam. In a complaint filed by Digimarc in the district court of Oregon (Civil Action No. 3:09-cv-1355-KI.), Digimarc alleges that Shazam’s music identification technology infringes three of Digimarc’s patents. Digimarc's patents relate to technology that enables devices to identify audio and visual content and immediately link the consumer to associated internet services. Digimarc has invented technologies that employ cameras, microphones and other sensors to enable instant identification of all forms of media content.