A Canadian court ruled in favor of Sanofi-Aventis, maker of the top-selling blood thinner Plavix, preventing Apotex from selling a generic version of Plavix in Canada. Plavix is one of the three top-selling drugs in the world with sales of $5.4 billion. Sanofi has a similar suit against Aptoex and Dr. Reddy in the U.S. […]

As brought to light by blogger B2fxxx there was a story in the Economist about a recent study published in Science magazine concerning the viability of gene patents in general. See here. Jordan Paradise and her colleagues at the Illinois Institute of Technology, published a study stating that more than a third of the patents […]

Legal Times published an article detailing the prevalence in the business of corporate espionage using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to gain competitive information. Companies are increasingly turning to teams of hired lawyers and analysts who request all data involving a competitor. Targets have included Boeing, MCI WorldCom Inc., McDonnell Douglas, and the General […]

Maybe it’s the cold weather and the gloom of February, but cupid did not bestow any Valentine’s day gifts on the biotech industry for the month of February. “Although the biotech industry managed to hold its own during much of the month with the Burrill Select Index up slightly into the final weekend of February, […]

As you may have seen in the news (see, for example, here), Microsoft is now calling for reforms to the U.S. patent system in four areas: improving patent quality, reducing excessive litigation, improving the coordination of international patent law, and increasing the accessibility of patent laws for small companies and individuals. What’s not to like? […]

A patent was awarded to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the multinational company WR Grace & Co. in 1995 for the fungicidal properties of seeds extracted from the neem tree, native to India. But, the European Parliament’s Green Party, India’s Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture […]

In a March 8 opinion, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta rejected a 2003 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ruling that Schering-Plough Corporation’s patent settlements with two other companies amounted to pay-offs not to compete. The FTC claimed that the company illegally kept cheaper versions of blood […]

In Seattle this week, baristas will compete in the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s 2005 U.S. Barista Championship (USBC). Alas, the Patent Baristas will not being attending, given that they just enjoy drinking coffee — not making it. The Barista Championship will feature fifty-five of the most skilled baristas from around the country creating some […]