march, 2005 top phosita posts

March has come and gone and with it a significant amount of controversy…. so, are lawyers smarter than software engineers?

• who is smarter: lawyers or software engineers?
• is this who you want to be doing your legal work?
• more patent press release nonsense
• An Action Hero for the Rest of Us
• how to lower the cost of obtaining patent protection
• trade secrets – bloggers beware
• client service – is your patent attorney embedded?
• TiVo, Changing the Way People Watch TV
• embedded patent law firm
• is this post edgy, provocative or funny?

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, April 1, 2005 at 10:14 am
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EPO and Living Inventions

Congratulations to our very own Kati McClatchey on the publication of yet another article entitled THE EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE AND THE EUROPEAN PATENT: AN OPEN AVENUE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGISTS AND “LIVING INVENTIONS.”

Kati discusses “the function and jurisdiction of the European Patent Convention (EPC) treaty and the European Patent Office (EPO) that the treaty established.  The EPO issues a single patent that is enforceable in as many countries as the applicant wishes to designate.  This makes obtaining patent protection in many European countries not only possible but extremely efficient as well.  While the requirements for a European patent are similar to the requirements for a United States patent, Ms. McClatchey highlights some important distinctions of which biotechnologists should be aware.”

Check it out at www.okjolt.com.

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, November 8, 2004 at 4:39 pm
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Onco-Mouse Article Published

Congratulations to our very own Kati McClatchey on the publication of her article entitled THE EFFECT OF THE �ONCO-MOUSE� DECISIONS ON THE EXCEPTION TO PATENTABILITY FOR �ANIMAL VARIETIES� UNDER THE EUROPEAN PATENT CONVENTION.

This article gives great a great review of the European patent system, and of the patentability of animals.  Check it out at www.okjolt.com.

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, October 6, 2004 at 3:04 pm
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Patent Rights in under a month?

IP Law & Business reports an interesting way to quickly stop someone from using your idea.

Since patents generally take years to issue, the idea of a patent “emergency” seems counterintuitive.  The referenced article shows that time is often critical for new inventions.  One example is a new cereal that’s high in protein and low in carbohydrates.  A manufacturer has two options when faced with a ground-breaking new product.  He can file an application and wait until the patent issues in a few years before selling the product.  Alternatively, he can file an application and start selling the product, allowing others to copy the invention long before they are aware of a patent application.  Since patents aren’t published for 18 months in the USPTO, the infringer will not even be aware of infringement for over a year.  An early publication is available, but it still takes 4 to 6 months.  The infringer’s lack of knowledge for this time means reduced infringement recovery for the patent owner.  These months can be very critical in business.

So, what can a company do?

It can file a patent application in Switzerland.  This can result in the patent being published within a month.  Under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), patent applications published through the international receiving office benefit from U.S. publication laws.

Of course, filing in a foreign office may require some knowledge of different practices, but in patent “emergencies” it may be worthwhile.

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, September 21, 2004 at 1:57 pm
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EUROPEAN UNION RESTRICTS ONCOGENE MOUSE PATENT

The European Patent Office
(EPO)
approved a restricted patent on the Harvard OncoMouse.
The EPO on July 6 limited
the patent to mice;
the original European patent, covered all mammalian species with a
transgenic oncogene. That patent had already been restricted in 2001
to only rodents. The EPO’s decision is seen as a setback to activists
who have fought for 9 years to bar EU patents on living
organisms.

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, July 26, 2004 at 1:56 pm
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