The Trump White House released a Statement of Administration Policy on Wednesday in response to the House of Representatives’ passage of H.R. 2430, a bill that would reauthorize the use of four FDA user fee programs: the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, the Medical Device User Fee Amendments, the Generic Drug User Fee Amendments, and the Biosimilar User Fee Act.
The PTAB has again addressed sovereign immunity in the context of an IPR. Reactive Surfaces, LTD. petitioned for IPR of U.S. Patents No. 8,394,618 and 8,252,571. The ’618 and ’571 patents are co-owned by Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) and the Regents of the University of Minnesota (UMinn).
Philips recently announced that it will purchase Electrical Geodesics, Inc. (EGI). The total value of the deal is estimated to be GBP 29.0 million (approximately $36.9 million). According to its website, EGI designs, develops, and commercializes various non-invasive neurodiagnostic products that monitor and interpret brain activity, such as its dense array electroencephalography (EEG) platform.
In an appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), the Federal Circuit held that claims related to methods of testing for fetal chromosomal abnormalities were not invalid because there was not substantial evidence that the claims lacked written description support.
As discussed in our previous blog post Puma Treads New Territory Hitting Forever 21 with Copyright Allegations after the Supreme Court’s Star Athletica Decision, Puma sued Forever 21 for design patent infringement, trade dress infringement, copyright infringement and unfair competition in the Central District of California. Specifically, Puma alleged that Forever 21 copied its “Fenty” label shoes which were designed by Puma with the help of famous pop star, Rihanna.
The University of Twente in Enschede, Netherlands recently introduced “the world’s smallest and most accurate 3D-printed biopsy robot,” called the Stormram 4. The device is designed to carry out biopsies during breast cancer scans and was developed by a team at the university’s Robotics and Mechanics lab in collaboration with Ziekenhuis Groep Twente.
According to a June 28, 2017 press release, Dutch healthcare company Philips has agreed to buy Colorado Springs-based Spectranetics Corporation, a cardiac device manufacturer, for approximately 1.9 billion euros ($2.16 billion), inclusive of Spectranetics’ cash and debt. Philips states in the press release that the acquisition of Spectranetics will expand and strengthen Philips’ Image-Guided Therapy Business Group.
In an order issued in Petroleum Geo-Services Inc. v. Westerngeco LLC, IPR2016-00407, IPR2016-00499, Paper 29 (P.TA.B. Jul. 5, 2017), the PTAB terminated the proceedings after the parties indicated that they had settled their dispute.
On May 23, 2017, the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (“District Court”) denied a motion for summary judgment that the patent claims asserted in a lawsuit brought by TecSec, Inc. (“TecSec”) are invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101.[1]
Fitbit recently announced plans to build sleep apnea diagnostics into its wrist-worn activity tracking devices, stating that it expects do so within a year. If successful, Fitbit may be able to address a market that is expected to have $6.7 billion in revenue by 2021.
