Legal and regulatory update

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Wilkinson

The year 2004 saw the end game of what was probably the largest and most significant patent infringement case in the English Courts of the past 10 years. Bird & Bird acted for TKT throughout. Kirin-Amgen and Transkaryotic Therapies Inc. (TKT) crossed swords for the final time in the House of Lords during an eight day appeal hearing in July 2004. The case is significant for the number of patent law issues at stake: novelty of product-by-process claims, three types of pleaded insufficiency, and most importantly the issues of purposive construction and infringement under the Protocol to Article 69 of the European Patent Convention. This section focuses mainly on the first and last of these issues. Indeed, the TKT case is actually the first case dealing with 'protocol infringement' to reach the House of Lords under the 1977 Patents Act. The appellate committee comprised Lords Hoffmann, Hope, Rodger, Walker and Brown.


2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-87
Author(s):  
Zein J. Razem ◽  
Qais Ali Mahafzah

AbstractAttempts to harmonize patent laws worldwide have increased, leaving bits of argumentative issues untouched in the patent systems under scrutiny. However, diversity can sometimes prove desirable since majority rule is not always right and the minority wrong. Sometimes a part is more righteous than the whole. This research focuses on areas where the Jordan Patents of Invention Law, United States Patent Law, and the European Patent Convention intersect. It concludes that although most countries, including Jordan, follow a different path than that taken by the United States, it may be unnecessary for the United States to change its system in order to be in sync with the rest of the world. Thus, it may prove advantageous to have two separate systems that can provide different patent protections where humanity achieves progression and development.



2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Gabriel Zanatta Tocchetto

This article examines whether the lack of closure of moral clauses in patent laws, particularly in dealing with the issue of human germline genome editing, causes such clauses to fail to function as a moratorium in countries like Mexico. The hypothesis posed here is that a general, open, moral clause in intellectual property legislation, specifically in patent law, is ineffective when confronted with a foreseeable but strong innovation that alters an area of applied biology such as human germline genome editing. Using the deductive method, this research aims to determine whether countries like Mexico need to provide more specific guidance in their legislation on technological innovations like human germline modification in order to foster an atmosphere of legal certainty. A comparative analysis of the closed morals clause in the European Patent Convention and the open morals clause in Mexico’s intellectual property law confirms this hypothesis. Specifically, the lack of closure of a morals clause in patent law, when confronted with novel and complex technological advances, will likely fail to function as a moratorium.



Author(s):  
Justine Pila ◽  
Paul L.C. Torremans

This chapter introduces the European law of patents and related rights with a discussion of the nature of patents as limited-term monopoly rights granted in respect of new, inventive, and industrially applicable inventions and the routes to obtaining patent protection in Europe. It then considers the existing European patent system established by the European Patent Convention 1973/2000, including its basis in state-based conceptions of IP territoriality, and the challenges presented to that system by globalization and developing technology. And finally, it discusses the long-standing pursuit of a unitary patent and unified patent court for Europe, including the reasons for each, and the features of the proposed Unitary Patent Package of 2012/2013.



2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-542
Author(s):  
Aisling McMahon

AbstractThis article focuses primarily on to what extent novel beings, and particularly, beings which display something akin to human consciousness or agency would be (or should be) patentable under current European patent law. Patents grant the patent holder a right to exclude others from using the patented invention for the period of patent grant (usually 20 years). This allows the patent holder to control how that invention can or cannot be used by others downstream, granting patent holders a governance like function over the patented technology for the duration of the patent. Accordingly, the potential for patentability of novel beings gives rise to a myriad of ethical issues including: to what extent is it appropriate for patent holders to retain and exercise patents over “novel beings”; how issues of “agency” displayed by any “novel beings” would fit within the current patent framework, if at all; and to what extent existing exclusions from patentability might exclude patents on “novel beings” or whether changes within patent law may be needed if patents in relation to “novel beings” are deemed ethically problematic. This article focuses on such issues, and in doing so, also sheds light on the role of ethical issues within the patenting of advanced biotechnologies more generally.



2021 ◽  
pp. 106689692098834
Author(s):  
Raquel Machado-Neves ◽  
Bernardo Teixeira ◽  
Elsa Fonseca ◽  
Pedro Valente ◽  
Joaquim Lindoro ◽  
...  

Most malignant tumors of the penis are squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), being divided in 2 groups, one human papillomavirus (HPV)-related and another non-HPV-related, with lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC) being one of the rarest HPV-related SCC. In this article, we report a case of a 50-year-old man who presented testicular swelling and pain for the past 3 months. A penile mass was identified, and the patient was submitted to a total penectomy. The penectomy specimen showed an ulcerated lesion at the glans reaching the cavernous bodies. Microscopic examination showed undifferentiated epithelial cells with syncytial growth pattern mix with a dense lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate, consistent with LELC. The tumor cells expressed p16 and all 3 different clones of PDL1 (22C3, SP263, and SP142). The patient is alive and well with a follow-up of 3 months. To our knowledge, this is the third LELC of the penis reported in literature and the first case reported with PDL1 expression.



2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Kanksha Peddi ◽  
Alexander L. Hsu ◽  
Tomas H. Ayala

ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a rare and potentially fatal complication of infective endocarditis. We report the ninth case of embolic native aortic valve infective endocarditis causing STEMI and the first case to describe consecutive embolisms leading to infarctions of separate coronary territories. Through examination of this case in the context of the previous eight similar documented cases in the past, we find that infective endocarditis of the aortic valve can and frequently affect more than a single myocardial territory and can occur consecutively. Further, current treatment modalities for embolic infective endocarditis causing acute myocardial infarction are limited and unproven. This index case illustrates the potential severity of complications and the challenges in developing standardized management for such patients.



Author(s):  
C Honey ◽  
M Morrison

Background: We published the world’s first case of hemi-laryngpharyngeal spasm (HELPS) syndrome cured by microvascular decompression (MVD) of the Xth cranial nerve in 2016. We now present a small cohort of patients (n=3) successfully treated with surgery in order to better delineate the common characteristics of this syndrome, diagnostic tests of choice, nuances of their surgical care and outcomes of their treatment. Methods: The history and physical examination of three patients with HELPS syndrome are presented. Pre-operative laryngoscopy, neuroimaging, response to botox and intra-operative videos are detailed. Post-operative outcome and complications are presented. Results: Each patient reported similar motor (choking) and sensory (coughing) features in their history. Episodic choking relentlessly progressed over the years until it occurred while sleeping and with frightening severity prompting tracheostomy in one patient and intubation in another. A “tickling” sensation deep in the throat triggered episodic coughing that worsened over the years until it occurred while sleeping and with frightening severity (syncope and incontinence). Conclusions: A review of the literature suggests that patients with similar symptoms, often called episodic laryngospasm in the past, have been treated with psychotherapy or antacids. With the recognition that a clearly defined subset of these patients have HELPS syndrome, we can offer them the potential of a neurosurgical cure.



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