Open Covid IP Pledge By Kirk M. Hartung The Open Covid Pledge is a recent initiative to assist in finding solutions to the corona virus. In essence, companies that sign on to the pledge agree to provide royalty free, limited time licenses to their intellectual property, so that others may research, develop, use, and make publicly available technology that may fight the corona […] Continue Reading →
PTAB Determines the “Publicly Available” Standard Varies Between Examiners and Third Party Challengers By Sarah M.D. Luth In a precedential decision issued December of 2019, the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) in Hulu, LLC. V. Sound View Innovations, LLC (IPR 2018-01039) considered what is required for a petitioner in an inter partes review (IPR) to show that an asserted reference qualifies as a “printed publication.” Petitioner Hulu argued that patentee Sound View’s patent […] Continue Reading →
Court Rules Photographer Gave Up Exclusive Copyright Licensing Rights by Posting to Instagram By In a controversial opinion, a New York federal court judge recently ruled that a professional photographer gave up exclusive licensing rights by posting a photo on Instagram. The photographer, Stephanie Sinclair, posted a photo on the popular social media site, Instagram. Later, the news site Mashable contacted Sinclair requesting to use the photo for a […] Continue Reading →
Patent Pooling and its Contribution to Collaborative IP Attempts at Targeting Patent Access By Blog Staff Growing concerns surrounding effective treatment options for combating Covid-19 has sparked global discussion involving the issue of access to innovations directed toward eradicating the novel virus. Recently, the Costa Rican government requested that the World Health Organization (WHO) create a voluntary patent pool to collect patent rights, regulatory test data, and other information to be […] Continue Reading →
McKee, Voorhees & Sease Providing Assistance During the COVID-19 Crisis By Blog Staff As all of us in Iowa are dealing with the Coronavirus outbreak, MVS is joining in to help those affected by this crisis and show our appreciation to our healthcare workers while supporting our local businesses. Several of our attorneys are volunteering to staff the hotline created by Iowa Legal Aid, The Iowa State Bar […] Continue Reading →
Amarin’s Eicosapentaenoic Acid Patents All Found Invalid – Lessons on Obviousness By Sarah M.D. Luth Earlier this week the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada issued a decision in the case of Amarin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., regarding the validity of six patents owned by Amarin Pharmaceuticals for the drug Vascepa. Amarin filed suit to prevent Hikma and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) from launching generic […] Continue Reading →
Patents Concerning Coronavirus Treatments By Gregory Lars Gunnerson 28 U.S.C 1498 allows the government to use or authorize others to use any invention “described in and covered by a patent of the United States.” If such authorization is granted, patent owners can sue the United States, but only for reasonable compensation. Patent owners are not able to seek injunctions against private entities working […] Continue Reading →
Heidi S. Nebel Elected to the AUTM Board of Directors – AUTM Chair and Newly Elected Board Members Take Office By Blog Staff The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), a global non-profit whose members support the commercialization of academic research through intellectual property protection, start-up formation and industry-academia collaborations, has elected Heidi S. Nebel, Managing Member of MVS, to its Board of Directors. Heidi is an Intellectual Property attorney with over 25 years of experience obtaining patents […] Continue Reading →
COVID-19 NLGRP closure and PVP concerns By Heidi Sease Nebel The National Laboratory for Genetic Resources (NLGRP) has temporarily closed due to COVID-19. They are not accepting seed or tuber germplasm at this time. They have requested that all germplasm deposits be delayed until further notice. What do I do if I need to make a deposit for my PVP application? If you have filed […] Continue Reading →
Contract Killers: Coronavirus and “Act of God” Provisions By Nicholas J. Krob Businesses everywhere, like the individuals that comprise them, are facing an uncertain future in the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”). As each new day brings unprecedented governmental regulations and market disruptions, businesses are increasingly finding themselves unable to fulfill, or enforce, contractual obligations. And with such inability often comes, at least eventually, litigation. […] Continue Reading →