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2. Patent Law

Date	Source	Title	Summary	Other Categories
07.2001	Nature Biotech	Patenting expressed sequence tags and single nucleotide polymorphisms	At a time when genome mapping is near completion and organizations are scrambling to stake claims on the fruits of their research, ESTs and SNPs still require a demonstration of utility to earn a patent.	19. General Patent and Biotechnology Information, 32. Genome Project and Genomics
06.19.2001	New York Times	Supreme Court to Review Case That Redefined Patent Doctrine	Accepting an important patent case, the Supreme Court agreed today to review an appellate decision that according to an unusually broad array of industry, educational and intellectual property groups has seriously undercut the value of many current patents and patent applications.
06.2001	Nature Biotechnology	The Monsanto decision: The edge or the wedge	The recent Federal Court decision in Monsanto has far-reaching implications in patenting whole organisms, which the Patent Office has yet to grant.	24. Monsanto
06.22.2001	New York Times	Printer Patent Lawsuit Charges Apple, Xerox, Others	Just weeks after it received US$400 million to settle a patent dispute with Hewlett-Packard Co., office equipment maker Pitney Bowes Inc. has filed legal actions against eight more companies over their alleged misuse of the same technology. Pitney Bowes said it filed the lawsuits to protect a patented technology used to enhance resolution in laser jet printing.
06.08.2001	Science	Transatlantic War Over BRCA1 Patent	U.S. and European patented technique for detecting mutations in BRCA1 may have flaws, as it does not detect all mutations, especially larger ones. French labs which detected the larger mutations may challenge the European patent granted to the method.	19. General Patent and Biotechnology Informaiton, 25. Myriad/BRCA Genes
06.08.2001	Science	Roche Dealt a Setback on European Taq Patent	On 30 May the EPO revoked Roche's patent on native Taq polymerase, a crucial element of the polymerase chain reaction. An appeal is pending. Roche is fighting related decisions in the U.S. & Australia. Recombinant Taq patents are also being challenged in Europe.	19. General Patent and Biotechnology Information
05.2001	Nature Biotechnology	Methods of treatment: Is there any protection available in Europe?	As medical treatment methods are not patentable in the EU, alternative methods of protecting theraputic applications of pharmaceutiecals are explored with respect to the Directive, revisions, and case law.	3. Theory of Patents
05.31.2001	New York Times	Europeans Revoke Patent on Enzyme	The European Patent Office revoked a patent held by Roche on an enzyme crucial to one of the biotechnology industry's fundamental processes, executives said. The decision is the latest victory in a long legal battle by Promega, a small company in Madison, Wis.,that, along with several other companies, challenged the European patent.	19. General Patent and Biotechnology Information
05.18.2001	Globe Technology	RIM lawsuit alleges breach of patent	Research in Motion wins a patent to protect its method of directing e-mail to wireless devices, and analysts said this could force competitors such as Palm Inc. and Nokia to liscence its technology, solidifying RIM's competitive edge.
05.05.2001	New York Times	Genentech Wins GlaxoSmithKline Dispute	Genentech Inc. has defeated a patent infringement suit brought by GlaxoSmithKline over two oncology drugs. A federal jury in Delaware unanimously found that the two drugs did not infringe patents held by GlaxoSmithKline. The GlaxoSmithKline patent claims are invalid because Genetech scientists and others working in the field earlier developed the very technology that GlaxoSmithKline was claiming as its own.
05.03.2001	New York Times	Brazil's AIDS Chief Denounces Bush Position on Drug Patents	The director of Brazil's AIDS program accused the Bush administration today of toughening America's stance toward Brazil's manufacture of generic AIDS drugs and of dragging AIDS policies into trade negotiations.	6. Policies, 10. Ethical and Social Concerns Arising out of Patents
03.30.2001	Washington Post	Farmer Liable For Growing Biotech Crops	A judge yesterday ordered a Canadian farmer to pay the biotechnology giant Monsanto Co. thousands of dollars because the company's genetically engineered canola plants were found growing on his field.	29. GMOs
03.26.2001	New York Times	Patents: A Company Receives a Software Patent and Will Soon Be Seeking Royalties	A software-based system for monitoring telephone calling patterns to detect fraud has won a patent after nine years of scrutiny at the Patent and Trademark Office. During that time, similar systems have been employed in the telecommunications industry, and the company that just won the patent says it now expects anyone using the technology to now license it and pay royalties.	18. Value of Patents
03.12.2001	New York Times	Patents: Part of Fierce Battle Over Genetic Engineering	After agreeing last month to hear a dispute between two corn-seed companies struggling for economic advantage in the lucrative market for genetically engineered plants, the United States Supreme Court is preparing to settle whether such seeds should be awarded the kinds of patents that usually cover mechanical, electrical or chemical inventions.	3. Theory of Patents, 29. GMOs
01.19.2001	Washington Post	Judge: Amgen Patents Were Infringed	A federal judge ruled Friday that Transkaryotic Therapies Inc. violated a series of valid patents belonging to Amgen Inc. in its development of a potentially lucrative anti-anemia drug.
01.2001	Nature Biotech	Patenting biotechnology inventions in China	This article gives an overview of the main requirements for obtaining a patent in China, with particular focus on the aspects unique to biotechnology inventions. It includes examples of patentable and non patentable biotechnology subject matter, as well as novelty and inventiveness standards of the Chinese Patent Office. Also described are infringement proceedings, sufficiency of disclosure and the growing technology sensitivity of China.
01.2001	Nature Biotech	Affymetrix license valid, rules court	A summary of the court battle between Affymetrix and OGT regarding the "Southern patents" that claim basic methods for manufacturing and commercializing high-density GeneChips using OGT technology. Also discussed is the virtual monopoly jointly held by these companies over the field in genotyping and certain diagnostic applications.
12.2000	Nature Biotech	Affymetrix infringes	[10 November 2000] A US federal jury declared that Affymetrix's GeneChip microarrays infringe upon patents held by Oxford Gene Technology Limited, but more trials will be necessary before damages can be properly determined.
01.11.2001	Nature	Guidelines reject criticism of policy on gene patenting	The USPTO has released new guidelines on the patenting of genes and gene sequences that will clarify its handling of applications. While broadly similar to the interim version [99 Dec] the final version clarifies the circumstances in which a claim for the usefulness - or 'utility' - of a newly discovered gene sequence can be based on its similarity to a previously known sequence of known function.	6. Policies
11.10.2000	Washtech.com	Affymetrix Found to Have Infringed Patent	A federal jury on Friday found that biotechnology firm Affymetrix Inc. infringed an Oxford Gene Technology Ltd. patent for technology that quickly determines the activity of genes.