China Patent Eligibility Update: Human Embryonic Stem Cells
- On September 23, 2019, China National Intellectual Property Administration (“CNIPA”) announced its proposed amendments to China’s Guideline on Patent Examination (the “Guideline”), which is the counterpart of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure in the U.S. The proposed amendments will become effective November 1,... ›
Morrison & Foerster Launches Complimentary Tracker For Northern District Of California IP Cases
We are pleased to announce the launch of the MoFo NDCal IP Resource Center. This complimentary resource is available to the public and provides insights on the judges, trends, and decisions for intellectual property cases for the last five years in the United States... ›Analyzing Biologics Under the Doctrine of Equivalents and Prosecution History Estoppel
By: Janet Xiao and Meghan McLean Poon
In a recent decision, Ajinomoto v. ITC , the Federal Circuit addressed the issues of doctrine of equivalents and prosecution history estoppel as applied to patent claims reciting specific amino acid sequence of a biologic. On appeal, the Federal Circuit affirmed the decision by... ›AI Patent Policy – Calling all Life Sciences Practitioners
By: Anna Yuan and Karen G Potter
In the life sciences, artificial intelligence (AI) may be facilitating a sea change in how diseases are diagnosed, prognosed, and treated, and even how therapies are discovered and produced. Indeed, it is possible for AI to provide insights into disease and treatment that could... ›CJEU on Genuine-Use of Trademarks in Clinical Trials
By: Wolfgang Schönig and Robert Grohmann
The pharmaceutical market presents unique challenges to pharmaceutical companies seeking to launch new products. One such challenge involves the lengthy process of executing clinical trials as a prerequisite for obtaining market authorization. In this context, the fact that trademark laws in most jurisdictions provide... ›China’s new administrative regulations on human genetic resources as applied to foreign persons
The Administrative Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Human Genetic Resources (the “Regulations”), promulgated by China’s State Council, went into effect on July 1, 2019, superseding prior regulations on China’s human genetic resources (“China HGR”), particularly the 1998 Interim Methods of Human... ›Confidentiality of Documents: Only if Related to Court Proceedings or Commercial Interests
By: Wolfgang Schönig
In particular for commercial reasons, pharmaceutical companies have an interest in the confidentiality of documents submitted in connection with the marketing authorization for medicinal products vis-á-vis its competitors as well as vis-á-vis the public. The Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled... ›Federal Circuit Diagnoses the Patent Eligibility Problem – But Denies a Remedy
By: Karen G Potter
On July 3, 2019, in a 7-5 en banc decision, the Federal Circuit declined to reconsider its decision in Athena Diagnostics v. Mayo Collaborative Services ,[1] finding that claims to a diagnostic method were patent ineligible for being directed to a law of nature.... ›Patent Term Adjustment: A Post-Supernus Update from the Patent and Trademark Office
By: Karen G Potter
On May 9, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) published a notice in the Federal Register that it is modifying its patent term adjustment (“PTA”) procedures in view of the Federal Circuit’s decision in Supernus Pharmaceuticals v. Iancu .[1] Under the PTO... ›The Diagnostics Dilemma: Securing and Protecting Diagnostic-Based Claims
By: Karen G Potter
While many life sciences companies are built on platforms involving the development of diagnostic products and methods that underlie personalized medicine allowing treatment that is customized to a patient’s unique biology, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the industry with its decision... ›