Negotiators have adopted the “Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or otherwise Print Disabled”. The Treaty addresses making copyright protected literary works available to the visually impaired. It will enter into force after it has been ratified by 20 WIPO members that agree to be bound by its provisions.
Monthly Archives: June 2013
Patent Volume in 2012
The number of patent applications published in 2012 or that entered national phase in Canada in 2012 was down slightly from 2011 at about 33,874. Smart & Biggar, Gowlings and BLG top the list of firms by volume of applications for 2012.
Old Act Patents
I’ve updated my list of recently issued “Old Act” patents – three issued so far in 2013. These were filed prior to October 1989 but can expire 17 years from this year’s issue date.
Reverse Payments
The United States Supreme Court issued a decision today in FTC v. Actavis, Inc. considering the legality of ‘reverse payment’ patent settlements particularly under the Hatch-Waxman Act. A majority held that such settlements are not presumptively illegal, nor immune from antitrust attack.
Isolated DNA
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that isolated DNA is not patentable subject matter but cDNA is patentable in Association for Molecular Pathology et al. v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. et al.
Sildenafil patent not “void”
The Supreme Court of Canada has varied its decision in Teva Canada Ltd. v. Pfizer Canada Inc., 2012 SCC 60 to remove references to the patent being ‘invalid’ or ‘void’ and instead referred to Teva’s allegations of invalidity in the PM(NOC) application being established.
Patent Assertion Entities
President Obama released reports and plans relating to patent litigation in the United States and particularly addressing “Patent Assertion Entities”. The announcement today included among other things, plans to provide new rules as to patent ownership and guidance on ‘functional claiming’ in software patents, as well as recommendations on costs awards in patent cases.