GENE PATENTS CHALLENGED ON GROUNDS OF PUBLIC POLICY

Patenting living organisms has been permitted since the Supreme Court’s decision in Diamond v. Chakrabarty in 1980. Whether this precedent will apply to gene patents remains to be seen. To date, the most controversial dispute in this arena involves...

THERE’S A LAWSUIT FOR THAT

In October 2009, Verizon launched a series of commercial advertisements comparing coverage maps of Verizon’s 3G network with more sparse 3G coverage maps of competitor AT&T. Specifically, Verizon’s ads claim that AT&T is “out of touch” and that if someone...

WILL BILKSI AFFECT YOUR BIOTECH PATENT?

The recent Federal Circuit decision in In re Bilski last October has begun to cause some concern in the biotech sector. As we have reported in previous blog entries, Bilski created a new test for method claims in patents, requiring a claimed...

LICENSING INFORMATION FOR PCT APPLICATIONS

Happy New Year!  As of January 1, 2012 the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) is now permitting international PCT applicants who are interested in licensing their inventions to request that the International Bureau to make this information publicly...