After the announcement that David Kappos was nominated for the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), there has been much speculation about possible reform programs that Kappos may enact.  The USTPO faces a few major problems due to the increase in applications and complexity of technology.  The USPTO is backlogged with [...]

Filed under: Dead Patents, In Congress, In the USPTO, International Patent, Miscellaneous, Patent, Trademark by brandond
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On July 6, 2009, the U.S. Patent and Trademark office will establish a Patent Prosecution Highway (“PPH”) pilot program with the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland. A PPH agreement between two countries’ patent offices allows an applicant to request accelerated processing of their patent application at one Patent Office when the second [...]

Filed under: In the USPTO, International Patent, Patent by davidi
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United States Patent No. 7,383,832 (”the ‘832 patent”) issued on June 10, 2008 for a CHANGE UP PITCHING MACHINE. Since 1897, baseball players and softball players have practiced by hitting balls that are thrown from pitching machines. Pitching machines have been improved along with the popularization of baseball and softball. These improvements are aimed to [...]

Filed under: Alive Patents, International Patent, Miscellaneous by admin
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Before initiating the process of procuring a patent in the United States, it is important to understand the steps and the time frame of the process. Some of the major milestones in the life of a utility patent application and a general overview of what an inventor should expect are summarized below. (click on the [...]

Filed under: In the USPTO, International Patent, Patent by admin
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Novartis, a Swiss drug manufacturing company, faced defeat in the Madras high court of India in an attempt to amend Indian Patent law. Novartis sought protection against the manufacture of generic goods and incremental changes to existing drugs. Indian patent law limits patent protection in the pharmaceutical field to only entirely new compounds and does [...]

Filed under: International Patent by admin
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On July 2, 2007, the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) launched a twelve-month pilot program aimed to expedite the processing of patent applications filed in the United Kingdom or Japan. By creating a Patent Prosecution Highway between the two countries, intellectual property authorities in the UK and Japan [...]

Filed under: International Patent by admin
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Our foreign associate, friend and colleague, Dr. Mariano Municoy of Moeller & Co. in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been generous in taking the time to author an exclusive article for our blog. The article addresses recent and relevant judgments concerning industrial property in Argentina. Please click here to read. Thanks Dr. Municoy!

Filed under: In the Courts, International Patent, International Trademark by admin
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Bio-Piracy refers to the idea of foreign corporations, universities and/or governments appropriating biological resources or traditional knowledge from developing countries, for commercial use, without acknowledgment or compensation. These research entities then apply for patents claiming the isolated and purified compounds developed from this local knowledge. Unfortunately, little to none of the benefits obtained from commercializing [...]

Filed under: International Patent by admin
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On June 5, 2006, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court upheld Pfizer’s patent for the use of sildenafil citrate, the active ingredient in Viagra. The ruling reversed a decision by the Patent Reexamination Board of China’s State Intellectual Property Office. In 1994, Pfizer filed a Chinese patent application for the use of sildenafil citrate [...]

Filed under: In the Courts, International Patent, Patent by admin
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The following Contracting States have become members of the PCT Union under the World Intellectual Property Organization: 1) Lao People’s Democratic Republic with membership effective on June 14, 2006; 2) Honduras with membership effective on June 20, 2006; and Malaysia with membership effective on August 16, 2006. The addition of these Contracting States increases the [...]

Filed under: International Patent, Patent by admin
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