MoFo Life Sciences

May 12, 2022 - United States, Biotech, Healthcare, Intellectual Property, Cell + Gene Therapy
The “Big Bang” for Sequence Listings: New Requirements in Place July 1, 2022
By: Liz Newman and Karen G Potter
Life sciences patent applications often contain DNA, RNA, and amino acid sequences in the specification, claims, or figures that are required to be provided in the form of a sequence listing. The inclusion of sequences in patent applications are compulsory to satisfy patent office
... ›
April 15, 2022 - United States, Agtech, Litigation, Intellectual Property
Stepping Stones to Success: Supporting Claims in the Life Sciences
By: Meghan McLean Poon and Owen Grayson Hosseinzadeh
Owen Grayson Hosseinzadeh, Law Clerk in San Diego, contributed to the drafting of this post. The standard for written description in the life sciences seems to have tightened lately, leading patent applicants to wonder what level of written support and working example data is
... ›
April 08, 2022 - Litigation, European Union, Intellectual Property
A Long Courtship for Unity – As Europe’s Unitary Patent System Is Going Live Soon, Consultations About a Unitary Supplementary Protection Certificate Gain Momentum
By: Wolfgang Schönig
After a myriad of challenges , delays , and hurdles, the setting up of the pan-European patent court, the Unified Patent Court (UPC), is finally gaining traction. On January 19, 2022, the UPC came into existence as an international organization. This date marks the
... ›
March 15, 2022 - United States, Litigation, Biotech, Healthcare, Pharma, Intellectual Property
Possession of an "Effective" Dose
By: Kelsey J. Roberts Kingman and Bu Yin
Update: On March 16, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied Biogen International’s petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc , following a November split decision discussed below. Judges Lourie, Moore, and Newman dissented on the denial of en
... ›
February 15, 2022 - United States, FDA, Healthcare, Pharma, Intellectual Property, Cell + Gene Therapy
PATENT TERM EXTENSION FOR BIOLOGICS
By: Meghan McLean Poon and Yuying (Kate) You
Patent term extension (PTE) provides additional patent term for patents related to U.S. pharmaceutical products to compensate for the effective loss of patent term caused by delay during the drug approval process by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). To be eligible for
... ›
January 14, 2022 - United States, Digital Health, Biotech, Pharma, Intellectual Property, Bioinformatics
USPTO Launches Program to Defer Subject Matter Eligibility Responses
By: Meghan McLean Poon
Starting February 1, 2022, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will begin inviting selected applicants to participate in a pilot program to defer subject matter eligibility examination until final disposition of the application or all other rejections have been addressed. The theory behind
... ›
January 13, 2022 - United States, Digital Health, Healthcare, Data Analytics, Intellectual Property, Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics Patents – Subject Matter Eligibility in 2022
By: Jean Nguyen
The increasing presence of data-driven solutions in the healthcare and life sciences sector is apparent from the rise in numbers of patents and patent applications. The number of published bioinformatics patents and patent applications in the last decade has nearly doubled. Bioinformatics patents face
... ›
January 05, 2022 - Litigation, Biotech, Healthcare, Pharma, Intellectual Property, Cell + Gene Therapy
Life Sciences Patent Trends in 2022 – Doctrine of Equivalents
By: Meghan McLean Poon
The Federal Circuit continues to tighten the standards for written description of functional claims, particularly in the biologics realm, which is putting patent applicants in the position of having to pursue narrow claims directed to specific sequences. At the same time, reliance on the
... ›
October 28, 2021 - United States, Intellectual Property
Traversing Higher Hurdles for Functional Limitations Under Section 112
By: Meghan McLean Poon and Kelsey J. Roberts Kingman
Genus claims have long been an important component of patent strategy, extending coverage around a lead compound to stop would-be competitors. Recent decisions from the Federal Circuit, however, highlight a tightening standard for written description and enablement of genus claims for biologic inventions, leading
... ›
October 13, 2021 - Global, Agtech, Regulatory, Intellectual Property
European Union Adopts Regulation to Extend Term of Community Plant Variety Rights in Europe for Varieties of Certain Plant Species
10/27/2021 Update : The adopted regulation ((EU) 2021/1873) is now officially published in the Journal of the EU. In accordance with the vote of the Council of the European Union on October 5, 2021, the European Union has adopted a new regulation aimed at
... ›