Pending Opposition Case with the EPO Raises Caution Over Generalized Assignment Language Within Employment Agreements

By Blog Staff

The year 2020—and now 2021—has been a busy year for the European Patent Office (EPO) as it works through several oppositions and appeals involving a number of CRISPR patents belonging to The Broad Institute, Inc., Harvard College, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (hereinafter “Patentee”). The EPO Boards of Appeal has already revoked a patent […]

MVS Collaborating with BioConnect Iowa on the Iowa Go-To-Market (G2M) Accelerator Program

By Richard Marsolais

MVS is pleased to announce that we are working with BioConnect Iowa, an organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Iowa’s bioscience sector, on the Iowa Go-To-Market Accelerator Program. The Iowa Go-To-Market (IowaG2M) Accelerator Program, a partnership between BioConnect Iowa, the Iowa State University Startup Factory, and VentureNet Iowa, seeks to provide follow-on support for […]

Celebrating National Agriculture Week

National Agriculture Week, March 21-27, is devoted to educating people about where food, fiber, and fuel come from. Every year, producers, agricultural associations, corporations, universities, government agencies, and others join together to recognize the contributions of agriculture. In celebration of National Ag Week, here are some agricultural and farm facts: According to most recent U.S. […]

Pegasus Universal Aerospace’s Patents Vertical Business Jet

By Gregory Lars Gunnerson

Pegasus Universal Aerospace (Pegasus UA) has recently acquired a U.S. patent for a newly developed vertical takeoff and landing business jet. The patent, U.S. Patent No. 10,710,713, names Dr. Mohamed Reza Mia as its sole inventor. Dr. Reza Mia also serves as Pegasus UA’s founder and chairman. The Johannesburg-based South Africa company seemingly hopes to […]

Inventor of Revolutionary Cassette Tape Passes Away

By Kirk M. Hartung

The inventor of the cassette tape, Lou Ottens, passed away at 95 last week.  The Dutch mechanical engineer began working for Philips in 1952, and became head of the product development department in 1957. Seeking an improvement to reel-to- reel recording spools and their problem with loose tape, Ottens’ goal was an enclosed case which […]

Antibody Claim Strategies After the Amgen v. Sanofi Decisions

By Charles P. Romano, Ph.D.

Monoclonal antibodies (“mAb”) which specifically bind therapeutic targets dominate the biopharmaceutical market with global sales revenues estimated at nearly US$163 billion in 2019. Prior to the 2017, mAb were often protected in the US by broad claims which described the therapeutic target (i.e., the “antigen”) that the mAb could bind since such mAb could be […]

Letters To and From Senators Express Concern Over Patent Eligibility Problems

By Kirk M. Hartung

The Intellectual Property Owners Association, a trade group representing patent owners, recently sent a public letter to U.S. Senators who are on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and on the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet in the House, voicing concerns over the current state of the law on patent eligibility. […]

Celebrating International Women’s Day

By Heidi S. Nebel

International Women’s Day on March 8th each year celebrates the social, economic, and political achievements of women around the world. The day also brings international awareness to gender parity. The state of Iowa has a storied history of gender equality with the Arabella Mansfield, the first woman in the country admitted to a state bar […]

Federal Circuit Revives SynQor Patent

By Julie L. Spieker

On February 22, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s decision that SynQor’s US Patent No. 7,072,190 was unpatentable. SynQor’s ‘190 patent relates to technology that converts DC current from one voltage to another for use in large computer systems and data communication equipment. […]

“Safe Harbor” Act May Save Pfizer From Infringement for Covid Vaccine Clinical Trials

By Kirk M. Hartung

In October, 2020, Allele Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals sued Pfizer, Inc.  for infringement of U.S. patent 10,221,221 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.  The pre-Covid ‘221 patent, entitled MONOMERIC YELLOW – GREEN FLUORESCENT PROTEIN FROM CEPHALOCHORDATE, issued on March 5, 2019, and claims priority to a provisional application filed on July […]