Patent Practice
Examining Ambiguities in Patent Examination Guidelines by Dr. Siva Thambisetty
As part of the IP Osgoode Speaks Series, Dr. Siva Thambisetty, an associate professor of law at the London School of Economics, visited Osgoode Hall Law School to speak on the subject of patent dialect. The main focus of her talk, entitled, "Is Patent Law Evasive or Merely Elusive?", was to highlight the issue of […]
Utility Emphasis Lacking in the Examination of Aggregations
The distinction between combinations and aggregations is a well-accepted principle of patent law. A combination is an assemblage of known elements whose combined use leads to a result that is different from the sum of the results of the individual elements. Whereas, an aggregation is an assemblage of elements that each produce their expected result […]
The View Ahead for Software Patent Applications: USPTO Releases Update to Guidance on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility
This article is cross-posted with permission from Bereskin & Parr. The United States Patent and Trademarks Office (USPTO) has released an updated set of Eligibility Examination Guidelines to provide guidance to examiners on when to reject claimed inventions as ineligible abstract ideas. These guidelines give a sense of what computer-implemented subject matter the USPTO considers […]
Patent Strategies in Your First Few Years of a New Business
Introduction A new business that plans to bring a new and innovative product or service to market ought to address patents right from the first draft of their business plan.
An Unexpected Infringement: There and Back Again
On March 16, 2015, Justice Barnes held that AstraZeneca’s Patent No 1,292,693 (“’693 Patent”), a formulation patent for omeprazole, was valid and infringed by Apotex (2015 FC 322). This decision represents the latest entry in the 22-year old cross-jurisdictional Omeprazole saga between AstraZeneca and Apotex. Because the proceedings were bifurcated, a separate reference for damage […]
China’s Bitter Medicine for Gilead: SIPO Cancels Viread Patent
Last August, China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) invalidated the core patent for Gilead Sciences' flagship drug Viread (as was reported by IPR Daily and a number of other news sources). This landmark ruling comes on the heels of recent changes to China's compulsory licensing scheme for pharmaceutical products. This quick-step of legislative reform followed by the […]
Inequitable Conduct in Canadian Patent Prosecution
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently provided an example of when patents will be invalidated due to inequitable conduct. Canadian patent law presently has no comparable doctrine of inequitable conduct, but the US ruling provides an interesting comparative basis from which to discuss the duty of good faith in Canadian […]
What a Potential Blackberry Sale Says About Canadian Innovation
In a recent Globe and Mail op-ed, columnist Konrad Yakabuski argues that the likely sale and potential breakup of Blackberry would be a major setback to Canada’s innovation agenda.
Splitting the Difference Between Antitrust and Intellectual Property: FTC v Actavis
The dividing line between intellectual property and antitrust laws was further clarified last week when the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) settled a debate on the illegality of Reverse Payment Agreements (RPAs) in Federal Trade Commission (FTC) v Actavis. In so doing, the Court split the difference between the FTC’s assertion that RPAs […]