EPO PATENT
April 01, 2005
march, 2005 top phosita posts
March has come and gone and with it a significant amount of controversy…. so, are lawyers smarter than software engineers?
Posted by Douglas Sorocco at 10:14 AM.
Permalink: march, 2005 top phosita posts
EPO PATENT
November 08, 2004
EPO and Living Inventions
Congratulations to our very own Kati McClatchey on the publication of yet another article entitled THE EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE AND THE EUROPEAN PATENT: AN OPEN AVENUE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGISTS AND "LIVING INVENTIONS."
Kati discusses "the function and jurisdiction of the European Patent Convention (EPC) treaty and the European Patent Office (EPO) that the treaty established. The EPO issues a single patent that is enforceable in as many countries as the applicant wishes to designate. This makes obtaining patent protection in many European countries not only possible but extremely efficient as well. While the requirements for a European patent are similar to the requirements for a United States patent, Ms. McClatchey highlights some important distinctions of which biotechnologists should be aware."
Check it out at www.okjolt.com.
Posted by at 04:39 PM.
Permalink: EPO and Living Inventions
EPO PATENT
October 06, 2004
Onco-Mouse Article Published
Congratulations to our very own Kati McClatchey on the publication of her article entitled THE EFFECT OF THE “ONCO-MOUSE” DECISIONS ON THE EXCEPTION TO PATENTABILITY FOR “ANIMAL VARIETIES” UNDER THE EUROPEAN PATENT CONVENTION.
This article gives great a great review of the European patent system, and of the patentability of animals. Check it out at www.okjolt.com.
Posted by at 03:04 PM.
Permalink: Onco-Mouse Article Published
EPO PATENT
September 21, 2004
Patent Rights in under a month?
IP Law & Business reports an interesting way to quickly stop someone from using your idea.
Since patents generally take years to issue, the idea of a patent "emergency" seems counterintuitive. The referenced article shows that time is often critical for new inventions. One example is a new cereal that's high in protein and low in carbohydrates. A manufacturer has two options when faced with a ground-breaking new product. He can file an application and wait until the patent issues in a few years before selling the product. Alternatively, he can file an application and start selling the product, allowing others to copy the invention long before they are aware of a patent application. Since patents aren't published for 18 months in the USPTO, the infringer will not even be aware of infringement for over a year. An early publication is available, but it still takes 4 to 6 months. The infringer's lack of knowledge for this time means reduced infringement recovery for the patent owner. These months can be very critical in business.
So, what can a company do?
It can file a patent application in Switzerland. This can result in the patent being published within a month. Under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), patent applications published through the international receiving office benefit from U.S. publication laws.
Of course, filing in a foreign office may require some knowledge of different practices, but in patent "emergencies" it may be worthwhile.
Posted by at 01:57 PM.
Permalink: Patent Rights in under a month?
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EPO PATENT
July 26, 2004
EUROPEAN UNION RESTRICTS ONCOGENE MOUSE PATENT
The European Patent Office (EPO) approved a restricted patent on the Harvard OncoMouse. The EPO on July 6 limited the patent to mice; the original European patent, covered all mammalian species with a transgenic oncogene. That patent had already been restricted in 2001 to only rodents. The EPO's decision is seen as a setback to activists who have fought for 9 years to bar EU patents on living organisms.
Posted by Douglas Sorocco at 01:56 PM.
Permalink: EUROPEAN UNION RESTRICTS ONCOGENE MOUSE PATENT
