Latest Managing Patents News

• USPTO considering new guidance after CLS v Alice

  The USPTO is considering whether to issue further guidelines on patenting software and business method patents following Friday’s Federal Circuit ruling on CLS v Alice and says it has identified three key themes from the opinions

• How CLS v Alice affects software patents

  In the wake of Friday’s narrow decision on CLS v Alice, lawyers are advising patent applicants to adjust their strategies for protecting software innovations. Alli Pyrah reports

• Monsanto wins patent exhaustion case at Supreme Court

  In a short and unanimous opinion in Bowman v Monsanto, the US Supreme Court has upheld the Federal Circuit’s ruling that an Indiana farmer may not reproduce patented seeds without the patent holder’s permission

• CLS v Alice decision may be the “death” of US business method patents

  The validity of hundreds of thousands of business method patents is uncertain after the Federal Circuit narrowly upheld the district court’s decision in CLS v Alice that four patents are invalid under Section 101

• Brazil's Azevêdo wins at the WTO: MSF calls for help on IP rules

  A group campaigning for better access to medicines has urged the WTO’s incoming director-general to help ensure that least-developed countries remain exempt from implementing the TRIPs Agreement

• Nine alternatives to the billable hour

  With in-house counsel under pressure to rein in legal budgets, outside firms are increasingly being asked to offer corporate clients alternatives to the traditional model of the billable hour.

• EU and US pursue trade deal

  Nothing highlights the varying attitudes to IP around the world like trade negotiations. In an interview with the INTA Daily News yesterday, Anders Jessen of the European Commission talked through the multiple trade deals Europe is in the process of negotiating, and explained how cultural and intellectual differences drive such agreements.

• Commission explains its position on injunctions for standard-essential patents

  EU antitrust officials have told Motorola Mobility they believe it abused a dominant position by seeking an injunction using its standards-essential patents

SPCs in Europe

• SPCs in the spotlight: Court of Justice of the EU rules in Neurim on Thursday

  The Court of Justice of the EU will rule in a dispute between Neurim Pharmaceuticals and the UK Intellectual Property Office on Thursday, clarifying whether pharmaceutical companies can obtain supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) for second medical use patents. Here’s the background to the case

• Court limits power of SPCs

  Products placed on the market in the EU before obtaining a marketing authorisation cannot benefit from supplementary protection certificates, the Court of Justice of the EU said today

• Advocate General backs negative SPCs

  The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU has recommended that the Court should rule that supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) can be granted where the delay from patent filing to first marketing authorisation is less than five years

• Questions on SPCs for second medical uses referred

  The Court of Justice of the EU is to clarify whether supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) can be obtained for second medical use patents

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Antitrust/competition

• Novell to appeal dismissal of $1.3 billion antitrust claim against Microsoft

  A seven-year lawsuit was thrown out on Monday when a US judge dismissed Novell’s antitrust suit against Microsoft for $1.3 billion

• Federal Trade Commission gets tough on trolls

  A report produced by the US Federal Trade Commission on balancing IP and competition has identified serious problems with patent quality

• Hong Kong braced for competition law

  Companies in Hong Kong should start preparing to balance the conflicting demands of IP and competition law, as a Competition Bill is likely to be passed in 2012, said speakers at a seminar last week

• IP review calls for evidence submissions

  IP practitioners have until March 1 to submit evidence to the UK's latest IP review

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Patent Cooperation Treaty

• PCT’s crowd sourcing system goes live

  Third parties can now electronically submit observations on PCT applications, including references to relevant prior art

• China leads the world in PCT growth

  Joe Biden said the Chinese can’t innovate. But new figures show that PCT applications from China grew by a third last year – and for the first time a Chinese company is ranked number one for published patents

• East Asia leads in PCT filings

  East Asia led in PCT applications in 2010, with roughly 164,300 filed, according to WIPO’s annual PCT review

• Key data from WIPO’s PCT survey

  The reasons why companies have reduced expenditure on patents vary significantly according to region and industry, according to a WIPO report

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