Known Method of Administering a Known Treatment Made by a New Process is Not Novel

By Julie L. Spieker

On September 28, 2020, in Biogen Ma Inc. v. EMD Serono, Inc, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”) reversed a district court’s grant of judgment as a matter of law of no anticipation, reinstating a jury verdict. The claims at issue in Biogen’s patent cover the multiple sclerosis treatment Avonex […]

MVS Attorneys Successful in Fighting Institution of Inter Partes Review

By

MVS is proud to announce that it was successful in fighting the institution of Inter Partes Review (IPR) for its client Putco, owner of Patent No. 9,995,473. IPR is a third-party challenge to a patent’s validity and is heard before the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office […]

Practitioners Beware: Hidden MPEP Rule Change May Cause Significant Impacts to After Final Practice

By Blog Staff

With the most recent revision to the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) in June 2020, practitioners have noticed a subtle, but potentially significant modification to one of the MPEP sections. The relevant section pertains to a change to the first-action final rejection (FAFR) practice under 706.07(b), ultimately broadening the criteria to issue a FAFR […]

Gore-Tex Inventor Passes Away

By Kirk M. Hartung

Robert W. Gore, who invented the waterproof material called Gore-Tex, passed away on September 17, 2020.  Gore was born in 1937 in Salt Lake City, Utah.  He earned a bachelors degree in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware in 1959, and received master and PhD degrees in Chem E from the University of Minnesota […]

Celebrating National Farm Animals Awareness Week

As we celebrate National Farm Animals Awareness Week, we applaud our clients who represent universities and businesses worldwide in matters involving cattle, swine, and poultry, among others. The work we do with our clients helps ensure the health and well-being of these animals and includes work done in gene editing, CRISPR, disease treatment, controlled release […]

USPTO to Provide a Deferred-Fee Provisional Patent Application Pilot Program

By Luke T. Mohrhauser

In yet another effort to encourage innovation to combat COVID-19, the United States Patent and Trademark Office recently announced a pilot program that attempts to expedite the protection and disclosure of innovations. The pilot program, titled “Deferred-Fee Provisional Patent Application Pilot Program and Collaboration Database to Encourage Inventions Related to COVID-19”, allows inventors to file […]

Fungal Fashion: Mycelium ‘Leather’

By Sarah M.D. Luth

Cultivation of fungi has occurred for thousands of years. Evidence of fermented beverages using yeast dates back to as early as 7000 BCE. In the modern era, fungi are commonly used in the pharmaceutical industry, food and beverage industry, plastics industry, and others. The fashion industry is increasingly seeking methods of making and incorporating sustainable […]

Utility Models in China

By Gregory Lars Gunnerson

A utility model is a patent-like intellectual property right to protect inventions. American, Canadian, and British inventors and companies are often unaware that such rights exist, given that their laws do not allow for registration of these rights. Utility models are generally cheaper to obtain and maintain, have a shorter term (generally 6 to 15 […]

EPA Provides Draft Guidance for Regulation of Gene Edited Plants

By Cassie J. Edgar

Background Although the USDA gets the most attention related to the regulation of gene edited plants, in the United States products of biotechnology are regulated by the USDA, FDA and EPA under the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology, updated most recently in 2017. Under this framework, the USDA, FDA and EPA each regulate in […]