In a move that signals a completely new approach in its industry, pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced that it will participate in a patent pool to allow access to patented chemicals and processes for development of treatment options relating to neglected diseases. The pharmaceutical industry has long taken criticism for the price of medicines, […]
Professor Shamnad Basheer (National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata) is an IP Osgoode Research Affiliate and is also the founder of SpicyIP, a leading blog dedicated to analyzing IP and innovation policy news and cases from India. Glivec, a path-breaking anticancer drug by Novartis propelled Indian patent law onto the world stage in an interesting […]
Industry responses to the European Commission (EC) preliminary report on pharmaceutical competition (see the IPilogue blog of Dec. 15, 2008) are becoming available, and criticism has been abundant. In no uncertain words professional associations are wondering aloud whether the EC properly interpreted the facts or, more generally, misconstrued the purposes of the current patent system. […]
Nada Basir is a PhD candidate at the Schulich School of Business at York University in the area of Strategic Management and Policy. The increased use of patents has sparked a critical debate not only at the legal level, but also across the science, management and policy literature. Whereas IP studies were once for the law academics, […]
Professor Correa is the Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Industrial Property Law and Economics, University of Buenos Aires and is a member of IP Osgoode's International Advisory Council The objective of the patent system is to promote innovation. There is growing evidence, however, about the strategic use of patents as a tool […]
Criticism leveled at pharmaceutical companies for their competitive practices has taken on a new dimension with the preliminary report from an inquiry of the European Commission (EC). The report on the Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry, released November 28, confirms the existence of business tactics that are restricting competition in the European pharmaceutical market. The inquiry […]
The process to harvest human embryonic stem cells (hESC) may be old news in the scientific community; however, the issues raised by this area of science continue to be debated in law and politics. The moral and social arguments for and against embryonic stem cell research are well documented. Proponents argue that stem cells, derived […]
In a unanimous decision released last Thursday (Apotex Inc. v. Sanofi‑Synthelabo Canada Inc., 2008 SCC 61), the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that selection patents are, in principle, valid under the Canadian Patent Act. In making their pronouncement, the Supreme Court polished other legal requirements for patentability along the way. The case began 6 years […]
Trying to get from point A to B can be frustrating, particularly when stuck in gridlock. A situation Michael Heller likens to the American (and by default, the Canadian) patent system. Heller argues in his article titled “Where are the Cures” [1], that the current patent laws hinder researchers’ abilities to develop medical cures. The […]
The following is based on the Globe and Mail article "Major companies agree to make anti-pollution patents public," by Martin Mittelstadedt. Since January 2008 patents developed with the goal of fighting pollution have been put into the public domain by a growing number of large companies, such as DuPont and Xerox. Dubbed the "eco-patent commons," […]