America's new Leahy-Smith America Invents Act

On September 16, 2011, President Mr. Barack Obama has signed into law the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act 2011. This will change US Patent system and main change from “First to Invent” to “First to File”, introduction of Post grant opposition, Pre-issuance submission by third parties (Like third party observation in EP) and many more.

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US patent for Anthrax treatment is awarded to Omni Bio

Omni Bio Pharmaceutical, Inc. has got the US patent for its product useful in the treatment of anthrax infection. The US patent titled as "Inhibitors of Serine Protease Activity and Their Use in Methods and Compositions for Treatment of Bacterial Infections," was issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The US patent no 7,850,970 is the result of joint efforts form Omni Bio and University of Colorado Denver under a licence agreement between them. This patent covers inhibition of all forms of Bacillus anthracis infection which is commonly known as anthrax by using one or more of four new peptides made up of 10 linked amino acids.

USPTO proposes rule change related to patent appeal

USPTO has announced to change the rule related to appealing the patent before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. This proposal will changes many things from the existing rules presently.
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Patent quality examination form 2011 at USPTO

USPTO is going to adopt new procedures for measuring the quality of patent examination that will be implemented during the start of the 2011 fiscal year. USPTO-Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) Task Force developed a new composite quality metric including seven factors, and an associated procedure for obtaining measurements, identifying systemic problems and providing remediation through examiner training.

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European Patent Office implements new rules for U.S. applicants

The European Patent Office is planning to implement new rules for US applicants willing to file patent application in Europe. From January 1, 2011, the European Patent Office will require disclosure from applicant, of prior art identified in search results from the patent office of first filing. The new rules will apply to a all the U.S. applicant seeking a European patent based on a U.S. priority application. The purpose of the new rules is simply to improve efficiencies in search and examination of European patents.
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How much time it will take to get patent at USPTO?

Nobody can surely say that how much time require to get a patent once it is filed from any patent office. Here is an article which has nicely described and summarized the issue at USPTO regarding patent prosecution and time lines.
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Tekmira patent portfolio has 3 more US patents for its key technology

In my earlier post, i have posted a news regarding RNAi related patent granted to Benitec company. In the line of same field of RNAi, Tekmira has also received three US patents related to lipid nanoparticle technology, which will be useful in delivering nucleic acid drugs, including small interfering RNA (siRNA).

Number of these three patentas are US7745651, US7799565, US7803397. These new patents cover key components of our LNP technology, which is already well validated in preclinical studies and is currently part of multiple clinical development programs sponsored by Tekmira and Tekmira’s partners.

Tekmira is a biopharmaceutical company and enagaged in research and development in the field of RNAi and its delivery by lipid nanoparticle technology.
(Source: Tekmira news release)

Prosecution history estoppel also has some limitation

"Prosecution history estoppel" a term used in US patent law which indicate that if anybody file us patent application and during prosecution, if he amend the claims for patentability reason, in future he can not claim the surrendered matter during amendment.
However the prosecution history estoppel should not be extended beyond what was surrendered. To get more clarification with case please read full article here

Another IP achievement for Alembic at USPTO

Alembic Ltd, a Vadodara based pharmaeutical company enagaged in pharmaceutical API as well as finished product development in domestic as well as in international.
Recently alembic got patent grant from USPTO for one of its product Venlafaxine hydrochloride extended release formulation. The granted US patent no 7,807,195 is about an extended release once daily pharmaceutical formulation comprising venlafaxine hydrochloride in the form of hard gelatin capsules filled with mini tablets.

RNAi Expression construct patent for Benitec Ltd

Benitec Ltd, a specialized in RNA interference (RNAi) technology got a patent grant at USPTO for its "RNAi Expression Constructs". The granted US Patent having no. 7803611 is related to RNAi costruct using single promoter for targeting hepatitis C virus to inhibit the level of hepatitis C virus in cells, tissues and organs.
Further the USPTO has also granted 925 days of patent term extension against delay in the examination activity at USPTO.
(Source: Pharmabiz)

Two patents awarded to Methylgene in oncology segment

Methylgene is a biopharmaceutical company and mainly concentratinf in development in oncology sector.
Recently USPTO has awarded grant of two composition of matter patents to Methylgene for its multi-targeted kinase inhibitor (MGCD265) which is specifically for cancer treatment.
MGCD265 is still in clinical trial phase and will be available in market once all clinical trials completes with positive results and regulatory approval is received.
Source (Pharmabiz)

Suven Life Sciences' two NCEs get US patent for neurodegenerative disorders

Suven Life Sciences has received two patents viz., US7,718,690 and US 7,781,476 for its New Chemical Entities (NCEs) from US Patent Office for the treatment of disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and these patents are valid until 2022.

The granted claims of the patents include the class of selective 5-HT compounds discovered by Suven and are being developed as therapeutic agents and are useful in the treatment of cognitive impairment associated with neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease, attention deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Huntington's disease, Parkinson and schizophrenia.

With these new patents, Suven has total of 8 granted US patents on NCEs. These granted patents are exclusive intellectual property of Suven and are achieved through the internal discovery research efforts. Products out of these inventions may be out-licensed at various phases of clinical development like at phase-I or phase-II.
(Source: Pharmabiz)

Prana Biotech receives patent for selected 8-hydroxyquinoline

Prana Biotech which is an Australian company engaged in biotechnology field received a grant of composition of matter patent for selected 8-hydroxyquinoline compounds from US Patent office. After the extension form the USPTO, the expiry of this patent is 21 December 2025 and it may be further get extension as per the patent term extension if will be granted.

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