Manufacturing Day in Iowa

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a proclamation declaring October 2 as Manufacturing Day in Iowa. The first Friday of October is the annual celebration of Manufacturing Day across the country. She signed the proclamation during the Association of Business and Industry (ABI) Advanced Manufacturing Conference earlier this week. The proclamation states: Modern manufacturing is advancing […]

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 […]

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 […]

EPA Provides Draft Guidance for Regulation of Gene Edited Plants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 […]

In Da Courts: Second Circuit Affirms Lower Court Ruling in Rick Ross vs. 50 Cent Copyright Feud

By Nicholas J. Krob

Earlier this week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a ruling settling an ongoing dispute between rappers Rick Ross and 50 Cent. In 2015, 50 Cent sued Rick Ross over the unauthorized use of 50 Cent’s hit song “In Da Club” in a promo video. Due in part to the […]

PIXEL PIONEER PASSES

By Kirk M. Hartung

The computer scientist who created the pixel in 1957 passed away on August 11 in Portland, Oregon. Russell Kirsch was 91 years old.  His first digital image using pixels was a 2”x 2” black and white photo of his three month old son, with only 30,976 total pixels (176 per side).  In comparison, cell phone […]

US Patent Office Sued For Requiring Human Inventor on Patent Applications

By Kirk M. Hartung

On August 6, 2020, Stephen Thaler sued the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, case number 1:20-cv-00903 for requiring him to name a natural person as the inventor on two patent applications which he filed relating to a light beacon and a […]

Federal Circuit Reinstates Patent Claims Previously Found Obvious by Patent Trial and Appeal Board

By Julie L. Spieker

On July 31, 2020, in the precedential opinion Alacritech, Inc. v. Intel Corp., the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (hereinafter the “Federal Circuit”) reinstated three claims of Alacritech’s patent, holding that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (hereinafter the “Board”) did not adequately support its finding that the asserted prior art […]