WIPO - January / February Issue WIPO Magazine

Via the IPMenu site:

The January/February issue of the WIPO Magazine is now available on the WIPO website.

Includes articles on:
Intellectual Property as a Lever for Economic Growth - The Latin American and Caribbean Experience; Coffee Exports, Product Differentiation and Branding; Dealing with Violators of Intellectual Property Rights;
Learning the Lessons of Traditional Knowledge: Broadening the Base of Intellectual Property; PAC Endorses Use of Intellectual Property as a Tool for Development; Outreach to Industry Leaders in LAC Region; Revision of International Trademark Law Treaty; SCCR Makes Progress on Key Copyright Issues; Access to Digital Content by Visually Impaired; New Contracting Parties to WIPO-Administered Treaties in 2003; Caribbean Governments Commit to Using IP as Tool for Economic Development; WIPO Signs Agreement with IFRRO; Economists Explore Link Between IP and Development; and Obituary - Professor André Françon (1926 - 2003)

| WIPO Website Link |

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• International Patent Filings Exceed 110,000 for the Third Year Running

Litigation of EP Patents

From the IPMenu site:

Litigation of EP Patents
The EPO have set up a page which provides details of documents relating to the framework of the Working Party on Litigation set up by the Contracting States of the European Patent Organisation. List of available documents:
- European Patent Litigation Agreement: Introductory remarks
- Declaration adopted by the Working Party on Litigation
- Draft Agreement on the establishment of a European patent litigation system
- Draft Statute of the European Patent Court

| EPO Website Link |

FYI: my 100th post!

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USPTO-Revised Procedures for Papers Requiring Immediate Attention

Revised Procedures for Papers Requiring Immediate Attention
February 26, 2004

On October 28, 2003 the Office published new procedures for the centralized delivery of documents (see Centralized Delivery and Facsimile Transmission Requirements for Patent Application Related Correspondence, 1275 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 200 (Oct. 28, 2003)). These procedures were revised on February 2, 2004. (cf. Papers Requiring Immediate Office Attention (Hand-carried and Facsimile Transmissions), 1279 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 149 (Feb. 24, 2004)).

To facilitate processing of certain papers requiring immediate attention, Section B of the Centralized Delivery Official Gazette notice is further revised to add a fourth item as follows:

4. Papers required by the Office of Patent Publication to be hand carried or faxed to
the Office of Patent Publication
a. The applicant may hand-carry the correspondence to the Office of Patent Publication at 2231
Crystal Drive, Room 907, Arlington, VA 22202.
b. The applicant may fax the documents directly to: (703) 746-4000

In preparation of a patent application for publication as a patent application publication or as a patent grant, it is sometimes necessary for applicants to promptly hand carry a required document to the Office of Patent Publication. Accordingly, in order to ensure that after allowance papers and documents needed for patent application publications are received in Publications, papers should be hand carried or faxed directly to the Office of Patent Publication, as required by that Office.

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USPTO-Waiver of 37 CFR1.312

Waiver of 37 CFR1.312 for Documents Required by the Office of Patent Publication
February 24, 2004

In preparation of a patent for issuance as a patent grant, if the Office of Patent Publication discovers an error in the text, or drawings of a patent application, including any missing text, or an inconsistency between the drawings and the application papers, the Office of Patent Publication may require an appropriate amendment to the specification or drawings. 37 CFR 1.312, however, does not permit an amendment after the payment of the issue fee without withdrawal of the application from issue….In order to be able to accept such an amendment as may be required without having to withdraw an application from issue, the Office of Patent Publication is hereby delegated the authority to waive the requirement of 37 CFR 1.312 and accept an amendment filed after the payment of the issue fee.

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Pfizer, Inc., v. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Ltd., et al. (Federal Circuit)

Pfizer, Inc., v. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Ltd., et al.
Federal Circuit
February 27, 2004
Before MAYER, Chief Judge, NEWMAN and LOURIE, Circuit Judges. Opinion by NEWMAN, dissenting opinion by MAYER.

Pfizer’s patent (USPN 4,572,909) covers Norvasc®, an anti-hypertensive, anti-ischemic drug product whose active ingredient is amlodipine. The specification describes clinical data of amlodipine besylate and amlodipine maleate. Pfizer selected the besylate salt for regulatory review. Upon regulatory review, the term was extended 1252 days (Hatch-Waxman Act) (patent was to expire Feb. 25, 2003). Dr. Reddy’s sought use of amlodipine maleate, arguing that the term extension only applied to amlodipine besylate. District court agree with Dr. Reddy’s, dismissing Pfizer’s complaint. Pfizer appealed. Federal Circuit reversed, finding that “the district court misconstued the statute…the Act by its terms extended the term of the patent for the registered uses of the drug product including its salt esters.”

UPDATE: Court released an updated coversheet. March 10, 2004

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Patent Business Methods Partnership Meeting @ USPTO

Patent Business Methods Partnership Meeting

As part of the March 2000 business method action plan, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announces the Spring 2004 business methods customer partnership meeting to be hosted by the director and managers of the Business Methods workgroup. Members of the public are invited to attend the partnership meeting subject to space limitations. The partnership meeting is an opportunity for an informal discussion on topics such as quality initiatives, how the second pair of eyes operates, determination of statutory subject matter, and other topics specific to business methods. Additionally, industry leaders will discuss the importance of business methods patents from their perspective. While public attendees will have the opportunity to provide their individual input, group consensus advice will not be sought.

DATES AND LOCATION: The partnership meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 27, 2004, from 1:00 P.M.-5:00 P.M. at the USPTO Patents Theatre, Crystal Park 2, Suite 200, 2121 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 22202.

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February JPTOS

The February JPTOS is out.
Articles: “Celebrating the Life of Isaac Fleischmann”; “Festo is Back! On Remand the Federal Circuit Answers Four More Questions?”; “The Community Design: A New Right of Design Protection for the European Community”; “Enforcement of CTMS in the EU: The Real Test of Their Commercial Value”; and “An ‘Obvious’ Misunderstanding: Zurko, Lee and the Death of Official Notice (Part I).” Articles not available on-line at their site: http://www.jptos.org/

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Third Annual Hot Topics in IP Symposium

Via Carey’s Blog

Who: Duke Law Intellectual Property & Cyberlaw Society
What: Third Annual Hot Topics in IP Symposium
When: March 26, 2004
Where: Durham, NC
Details at http://intprop.law.duke.edu

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TechnoLawyer

One thing you should consider is joining the “TechnoLawyer Community.” I have received a lot of benefit over the past few years from this FREE service.

What Is TechnoLawyer?
TechnoLawyer consists of: (1) TechnoLawyer Newsletters, a network of FREE, critically-acclaimed e-mail newsletters for legal professionals; and (2) TechnoLawyer Archive, a searchable Web-based repository of all TechnoLawyer content since January 1997.

How Does it Work?
Every week, our members discuss legal technology and practice management issues, products, and services. We then compile these peer-written submissions into our e-mail newsletters, and also place them in the TechnoLawyer Archive, making it easy for you to access and assimilate this wealth of information.

What Topics Does it Cover?
TechnoLawyer covers many topics, including Accounting, Case Management, Digital Copiers, Document Assembly, Document Management, Handhelds/PDAs, Knowledge Management, Law Office Management, Legal Marketing, Litigation Support, Word Processing, and much more.

Why Should I Join?
TechnoLawyer content is written by those in the trenches of the legal profession. As a result, you won’t find this information elsewhere. Because our e-mail newsletters are free, you can evaluate them without risk and easily unsubscribe anytime. As for the TechnoLawyer Archive, many consider it an indispensable tool.

What’s New and Noteworthy?
We recently launched an e-mail newsletter called IP Memes, which covers emerging technology-related intellectual property issues. In the near future, we plan to launch TechnoLawyer Classifieds, e-mail classifieds for everything from selling used equipment to obtaining proposals from consultants.

How Do I Join?
To join today, just fill out the form on the upper right side of this page, and then click the “Join” button. Once you join, you will find yourself on a personalized Web page called “My TechnoLawyer” from which you can choose the e-mail newsletters you wish to receive or search the TechnoLawyer Archive.

Again, here is the link to the “TechnoLawyer Community.”

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USPTO - Nanotechnology Customer Partnership Meeting

“This Nanotechnology Customer Partnership initiative is designed and developed to be a forum to share ideas, experiences, and insights between individual users and the USPTO. The USPTO does not intend to use these customer partnership groups to arrive at a group consensus. Individual opinions are sought from varying participants, and the meetings are intended to be informal in nature. These customer partnership groups are formed with full recognition of the USPTO’s responsibility under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), and are not established as FACA compliant committees.” Meeting date: April 20, 2004. More info: Nanotechnology Customer Partnership Meeting

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