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MoFo Life Sciences shares timely legal and business insights and in-depth analyses on trends and the complex technologies at the heart of the global pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostics, medical devices, digital health, and AgTech fields.
January 24, 2019 - European Union, Intellectual Property, Pharma, Regulatory

A Structured Guide to Recent Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on Supplementary Protection Certificates in Europe

By: Wolfgang Schönig and Jana Brun

In principle, patents confer protection for a maximum of 20 years. In Europe, however, the patent terms for pharmaceutical products that meet the conditions necessary for supplementary protection certificates (“SPC”) can be extended for up to five years. Once a patent has been filed, a …›

January 11, 2019 - European Union, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Pharma, Regulatory

The EU General Court’s Ruling on Pay for Delay

By: Wolfgang Schönig, Andreas Grünwald, Jens Hackl, Theresa Oehm, and Robert Grohmann

The EU General Court (“Court”) reduced the fines imposed on Servier SAS and its subsidiaries (“Servier”) from a total of €428 million to €315 million (see press release no. 194/18), thereby partially annulling a European Commission (“Commission”) decision. The Court confirmed the Commission’s finding that …›

January 8, 2019 - Biotech, Intellectual Property, United States

A New Year's Gift for Patent Applicants?

By: Jonathan Bockman, Sejin Ahn, Shouvik Biswas, Christopher E. Gloria, and Karen G Potter

The USPTO rang in the new year by releasing new Examiner Guidance that could potentially benefit patent applicants who have previously encountered difficulty acquiring patents under the Office’s procedures for determining patent subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Supreme Court decisions regarding …›

December 1, 2018 - Agtech, Global, Intellectual Property, Regulatory

Planting the Seeds of Change

By: Michael R. Ward

Morrison & Foerster partner Michael R. Ward explained the specialized versions of IP law that have been developed for new plants in his article for Intellectual Property Magazine, “Planting the seeds of change.” “…plants are unlike other inventions in that they can often self-propagate, and …›

November 8, 2018 - AI + Robotics, Intellectual Property, Regulatory, United States

Patenting Artificial Intelligence in the U.S. – Considerations for AI Companies

By: Jonathan Bockman, Rudy Y. Kim, and Anna Yuan

Artificial intelligence (AI) encompasses technologies that have become increasingly relevant — and strategically important — to companies of all sizes across a wide range of fields. For example, AI technologies such as computer vision are critical to the operation of autonomous vehicles and pick-and-place …›

October 29, 2018 - Biotech, CFIUS, Pharma, Regulatory, United States

New CFIUS Pilot Program: What Life Sciences Companies and Investors Need to Know

By: John P. Carlin, Nicholas J. Spiliotes, Charles C. Comey, Robert S. Litt, and Joseph A. Benkert

As many life sciences companies and investors are aware, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) recently announced a new “pilot program” for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) effective November 10, 2018. The pilot program implements certain provisions of …›