Biotech news
Americas
Biopharmaceutical company Celgene and India-based rival Natco Pharma have settled a lawsuit centring on the alleged infringement of a number patents covering the Revlimid drug. 5 January 2016
Biotech
A grace period would give German inventors more flexibility to deal with different rules set by scientific publications and patenting procedures, and allow them to seek patent rights without the fear of prior disclosure, as Michael Kahnert of BIO Deutschland reports. 5 January 2016
Americas
Biopharmaceutical company Suven Life Sciences has been granted three product patents for the non-chemical entities for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s. 5 January 2016
Pharma
UK law firm Potter Clarkson has elected Michael Pears as partner in the firm’s biotechnology and pharmaceuticals department. 5 January 2016
Americas
The smartphone wars may have slowed down but many smaller high-tech companies continue to assert their IP rights against competitors, as the fitness tracker battle shows. Fabio Marino and Luc Dahlin of McDermott Will & Emery report. 22 December 2015
Americas
Biotechnology company Acorda Therapeutics has urged the Patent Trial and Appeal Board not to institute an inter partes review petition filed by the Coalition for Affordable Drugs, an organisation linked to hedge fund manager Kyle Bass. 16 December 2015
Americas
Parties are required to provide 180 days’ notice to a patent owner before marketing a biosimilar version of its drug, a US district court has ruled. 15 December 2015
Americas
Law firm Merchant & Gould has hired Alireza Behrooz as a partner in the firm’s chemical and life sciences group in Washington, DC. 10 December 2015
Americas
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has rejected Sequenom’s petition to re-hear its dispute with Ariosa Diagnostics en banc. 2 December 2015
Africa
Fewer IPR petitions are instituted against biotech and pharma patents, and there is a higher survival rate of instituted claims in final written decisions compared to all technical fields combined. Melissa Gibson and Ruben Munoz of Akin Gump analyse the statistics. 26 November 2015