Year 2009

Open Source Textbook Service Sees Interest Jump

A United States publisher of open source college textbooks – licensed under Creative Commons and fully remixable – has seen interest in its service increase more than 30-fold in the past several months, according to a press release [pdf] by…

Indian High Court Rejects Bayer Complaint For Patent Linkage

Indian generics manufacturer Cipla can get marketing approval for its generic cancer treatment Soranib, the Delhi High Court ruled Tuesday, and the Indian drug regulatory authority does not have to check its patent status first. The court this week rejected a complaint by drug multinational Bayer against the Union of India, the Drug Controller General of India and generic drug producer Cipla.

Bayer sought a court order requiring DCGI to consider the patent status of kidney cancer drug, sorafenib tosylate (sold under the brand name Nexavar), before granting marketing approval for a generic version of the drug.

At issue was whether it is legitimate to link a potential violation of IP rights to processes regulating a drug’s entry onto the market that are generally based on drug quality, efficacy and safety.

Law Professors Debate Bilski

A potentially paradigm-shifting legal case that could restrict the granting of business method patents in the United States, Bilski v. Doll has attracted the attention of policy makers world-wide, who expect its outcome to influence the international patent system (IPW,…

美国最高法院复审比尔斯基案可能震动专利制度

去年10月,一家美国上诉法院极大地改变了美国的专利法,从而在就何种发明能够受到专利保护这一问题上采取的做法更接近其他国家的标准。联邦上诉巡回法庭(Federal Circuit Court of Appeals,经常被称为美国的“专利法庭”)撤销了自己基本判例,并大幅减少了符合专利保护各类方法和程序。该判决使数千个专利前途未卜,其中就包括许多商业方法专利和金融方法专利。

La revisión del caso Bilski por parte de la Corte Suprema de los EE.UU. podría repercutir en todo el sistema de patentes

El pasado mes de octubre, un tribunal de apelación de los Estados Unidos modificó drásticamente la ley de patentes, acercando así las normas de este país a las de otros en lo relativo a las invenciones que se pueden patentar. El Tribunal de Apelación del Circuito Federal (apodado a menudo el “tribunal de patentes” de los EE.UU) anuló uno de sus precedentes fundamentales y redujo fuertemente los tipos de métodos y procesos que pueden ser objeto de protección mediante patentes. La decisión dejó en entredicho a miles de patentes, entre ellas muchas relacionadas con métodos comerciales y métodos financieros.

Le réexamen de l’affaire Bilski par la Cour suprême américaine pourrait avoir des répercussions sur le système des brevets

En octobre dernier, aux États-Unis, l’arrêt rendu par une cour d’appel a bouleversé la loi fédérale sur les brevets, en comblant le fossé qui la séparait des législations d’autres pays sur les critères de brevetabilité des inventions. La Cour d’appel du tribunal fédéral (Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, parfois surnommée « tribunal de la propriété intellectuelle ») a annulé sa propre décision qui faisait école jusque là. Elle a, de plus, drastiquement limité les types de méthodes et de procédés brevetables. L’arrêt de la cour a remis en question des milliers de brevets, portant pour un grand nombre d'entre eux sur des méthodes commerciales et des procédés financiers.

Members Of Human Rights Expert Committee At UN Question Patents On Food

A group of experts working as a think-tank for the United Nations Human Rights Council raised the issue of patents and food at a meeting this week. Meanwhile, a new report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food expected to be available at the end of August will focus on the intersection between intellectual property and the human right to food.

Congress Members Seek Permanent ICANN-US Link

A group of US congressional members have sent a letter to US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke calling for a temporary arrangement between the Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (which manages technical aspects…