Update on “Patent Troll” Legislation in the Wake of the 2014 Elections In December of 2013, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3309, the "Innovation Act," ostensibly to address the problem of abusive patent litigation, sometimes referred to as patent trolling. While H.R. 3309 passed with bipartisan support by an overwhelming margin of 325-91 votes, its companion bill failed to clear the Senate. Failure of the […] Continue Reading →
FDA Releases First “Purple Book” for Biosimilar Products The Biosimilars Act (BSA) was passed into law on March 23, 2010 with the goal of encouraging the market entry of generic products, similar to the system that exists for generic drugs under the Hatch-Waxman Act. The BSA sets forth an abbreviated approval pathway for biologics through a regulatory demonstration of biosimilarity (i.e. interchangeability). More […] Continue Reading →
USPTO Issues Report on Virtual Patent Marking Under the AIA Among the provisions of the America Invents Act that went into effect on September 16, 2011 was a change to the patent marking provisions contained in 35 U.S.C. § 287(a). Marking an article as with a patent number provides constructive notice to the public that the article is patented, and failure to appropriately mark an […] Continue Reading →
Should Trade Secret Misappropriation be Federalized? The legal community (along with bipartisan legislation) has been discussing the creation of a private cause of action under federal laws for trade secret misappropriation – or trade secret theft. In light increased cyber-espionage and the apparent ease in which trade secrets can be misappropriated in the marketplace, Congress has taken an apparent interest in […] Continue Reading →
Federal Trade Secret Protection Proposed in the Senate Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2014 Senators Chris Coon (D-DE) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) proposed a bill on April 29, 2014 that would provide federal protection for trade secrets. Under the current state of the law, trade secrets are protected by a combination of various state statutes, state common law, and aspects of contract law. […] Continue Reading →
Senate Bill Aimed at Combating Cyber Espionage Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) has introduced a bill called the "Deter Cyber Theft Act" to the Senate floor that would require the Director of National Intelligence to report annually to congressional committees concerning foreign countries that engage in economic and industrial cyber espionage relating to intellectual property and proprietary information owned by U.S. companies. Under […] Continue Reading →
Senate Consideration on Patent Transparency and Improvements Act Stalls Out With the House of Representatives passing H.R.3009 Innovation Act in December 2013, the question is now whether the Senate will pass their version of an Innovation Act in the coming months. The Patent Transparency and Improvements Act (S.1720) is similar to the House text, with eight of the eleven major Senate provisions included in the […] Continue Reading →
Bring on the New Year – What is in Store for IP in 2014? Happy New Year to all of our FilewrapperÒ followers! We hope 2013 was a productive year and wish you the best in 2014. As the New Year quickly approaches we would like to share with you a few predictions for 2014 for you to look forward to and for which to prepare! · Increased opportunities […] Continue Reading →
H.R. 3309 – The Innovation Act On December 5, 2013, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3309, the “Innovation Act”, with bipartisan support by an overwhelming margin of 325-91 votes. H.R. 3309 was drafted to address the perceived growing problem of abusive patent litigation attributed to alleged “patent trolls.” Early next year, the Senate will likely consider a companion bill, S. […] Continue Reading →
Federal Judicial Center – Hot Topics in Patent Litigation The Federal Judicial Center recently released a Webinar entitled “Hot Topics in Patent Litigation: Actavis, Hatch-Waxman and the Biosimilars Act.” The Webinar focused on recent developments in areas regarding enforcement of patents in the life science area, generic drugs, and generic biologics. The entire webinar is available here; the following are brief highlights: Hatch-Waxman Patent […] Continue Reading →