Patents: U.S. lags in patent law reform: The employed inventor in countries other than the U.S. often is given better incentives to create, plus greater statutory protection

IEEE Spectrum ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 60-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald P. Parsons
Keyword(s):  
Patent Law ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Statutory Protection ◽  
The U.S

scholarly journals The Problem of Process in Biotechnology

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Burk
Keyword(s):  
Information Transfer ◽  
Patent Law ◽  
The Past ◽  
Transfer Processes ◽  
Biotechnology Products ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Novel Products

Patent law routinely relies on distinctions between products and processes, but the courts appear to have a great deal of trouble distinguishing the two when it comes to biotechnology cases. Over the past two decades, this has led to a series of cases grappling with a process-related problems that are characteristic of biotechnology patents. These cases include those dealing with obviousness of macromolecules, those addressing the so-called "Durden" problem of patenting old processes that use novel substrates or create novel products, and several recent importation cases considering sections 271(f) and 271(g) of the U.S. patent statute. It is no accident that biotechnology patent cases repeatedly coalesce around such process-related issues; rather, in biotechnology patenting a discontinuity at the center of patent law has finally come to light. This anomaly is due to the character of molecules as channels for informational transfer processes, and the inability of current patent doctrine to encompass information transfer. Consequently, conflicts regarding process and product will be endemic not only to the patenting of biotechnology products, but also other informational products, particularly software.

Product Hopping

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Carrier
Keyword(s):  
Drug Product ◽  
Patent Law ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Antitrust Law ◽  
Brand Name ◽  
Product Selection ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Antitrust Analysis ◽  
The U.S

One of the most pressing issues in antitrust law involves “product hopping.” A brand-name pharmaceutical company switches from one version of a drug (say, capsule) to another (say, tablet). The concern with this conduct is that some of these switches offer only a trivial medical benefit but significantly impair generic competition.The antitrust analysis of product hopping is nuanced. In the U.S., it implicates the intersection of antitrust law, patent law, the Hatch-Waxman Act, and state drug product selection laws. In fact, the behavior is even more complex because it involves uniquely complicated markets characterized by buyers (insurance companies, patients) who are different from the decision-makers (physicians).This article introduces the relevant U.S. laws and regulatory frameworks before exploring the five litigated cases.

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