September 16, 2017 marked five years since the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was created. Some of the notable statistics and trends of the previous 5 years are shown here.
Kalytera Therapeutics, clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, recently announced plans for clinical trials focused on the treatment of Graft versus Host Disease using Cannabidiol (CBD), a compound found in cannabis. This development highlights the expanse of continued research—and potential—of CBD-based medicines and methods of treatments being pursued by companies globally.
The recent district court ruling in INO Therapeutics LLC et al v. Praxair Distribution, Inc. et al employed the two-step analytical framework of Mayo/Alice to evaluate subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101, and the court found U.S. Patent Nos. 8,795,741 (“’741 patent”), 8,282,966, 8,293,284, 8,431,163, and 8,846,112 (collectively, the “HF patents”) to be invalid.
Utility patents cover a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. Design patents are much more common in the fashion industry since design patents protect the aesthetic features of a useful invention.
According to data published by business intelligence firm Cutting Edge Information, the majority (73%) of pharmaceutical marketing teams expect to use or continue to use the popular social media forum Facebook to facilitate their digital marketing strategies over the next one to two years.
On August 29, the FDA announced a recall of 465,000 implantable pacemakers, citing concerns that hackers may be able to take control of the pacemakers’ settings. This would open patients up to danger from improper pacing or rapid depletion of the devices’ batteries, according to the FDA’s statement. Instead of removing and replacing the pacemakers, the recall is designed so that doctors will install a firmware upgrade that removes the vulnerability.
Years after the Christian Louboutin v. Yves Saint Laurent battle over red soled shoes, trademark protection for color continues to be a hot topic. On August 22, 2017, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) held that General Mills was not entitled to a trademark registration for its yellow Cheerios’ box shown below:
On August 30, 2017, the PTAB issued a Final Written Decision in M & P Golf, LLC (d/b/a Cool Clubs) v. Max Out Golf, LLC, IPR2016-00784, Paper 43 (P.T.A.B August 30, 2017), entering adverse judgement on the original patent claims because those claims no longer existed in light of patentably distinct claims obtained by the Patent Owner in a concurrent ex parte reexamination.
On August 31, 2017, a jury in the Northern District of Texas returned a verdict of patent infringement in favor iLife and against Nintendo.
