Here is Think IP Strategy’s weekly selection of top Pharma & Biotech intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

Highlights this week included:

Losec (Omeprazole) – EU: AstraZeneca fine for misleading patent regulators looks fine, says AG Mazák: AstraZeneca v European Commission (IPKat)

Australia: High Court refuses application for special leave to appeal Full Court finding that extended release venlafaxine patent is invalid (IP Whiteboard)

Please join the discussion by adding your comments on any of these stories, and please do let us know if you think we’ve missed something important, or if there is a source you think should be monitored.

General

DNDi backs WHO ‘neglected patients’ R&D treaty (IP Watch)

Key WIPO committee on patents to discuss patents and health, exceptions and limitations to patent rights and opposition systems (KEI)

New IFPMA-backed report on R&D for diseases in developing countries (IP Watch)

Australia: Gene patent opponents take the fight back to Australian Parliament (Patentology)

Argentina: New guidelines for the examination of pharmaceutical patents in Argentina (IP tango) (IP tango)

India: Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health tables damning report on the dangerous liaisons between the DCGI & the pharmaceutical industry (Spicy IP)

UK: EWCA applied CJEU’s ruling concerning Medeva’s applications for SPCs relating to combination vaccines: Medeva v Comptroller General of Patents (EPLAW)

US: James Love’s testimony for Senate HELP hearing on S.1138, the Prize Fund for HIV/AIDS (KEI)

US: Statement of Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT) on the mark-up of FDA reauthorization package (KEI)

US: New reports on FDA drug approval performance emerge as House Committee considers user fee reauthorization legislation (FDA Law Blog)

US: USPTO seeks comments on new sequence listing standard (Patent Docs)

US: Decisions, decisions, decisions! Our updated labeling carve-out citizen petition scorecard (FDA Law Blog)

US: Esoterix Genetic Laboratories files patent infringement suit against Life Technologies over products used in detecting certain cells or changes in a biological sample (Patent Docs)

US: Precision BioSciences asserts patent entitled “Methods of cleaving DNA with rationally-designed meganucleases’ against Cellectis in ED North Carolina (Patent Docs)

Products

Altace (Ramipril) – US: CAFC split on inherency in In re Montgomery (IPBiz) (Patent Docs)

Amrix (Cyclobenzaprine) – US: CAFC reverses finding of obviousness: In re Cyclobenzaprine Hydrochloride Extended-Release Capsule Patent Litigation (Patent Docs)

Boniva (Ibandronic acid) – US: District Court New Jersey deems Boniva patent obvious on summary judgment: Hoffman-La Roche v Apotex (Docket Report)

Botox (Botulinum) – EU: CJEU refuses bids by L’Oreal and Helena Rubinstein to register Botox-like trade marks (IPKat)

Cosopt (Dorzolamide, Timolol) – Netherlands: Court of Appeal of The Hague affirms lower court decision that patent and corresponding SPC are invalid for lack of inventive step: MSD v Sandoz and Hexal (EPLAW)

Coversyl (Perindopril) – UK: EWCA: Pharmaceutical firm wins battle for compensation following the lifting of injunction: Les Laboratoires Servier v Apotex (Out-Law)

Effexor (Venlafaxine) – Australia: High Court refuses application for special leave to appeal Full Court finding that  extended release venlafaxine patent is invalid (IP Whiteboard)

Losec (Omeprazole) – EU: AstraZeneca fine for misleading patent regulators looks fine, says AG Mazák: AstraZeneca v European Commission (IPKat)

Nexavar (Sorafenib) – India’s first compulsory licence over Bayer’s patent: Natco v Bayer (JIPLP)

Precedex (Dexmedetomidine) – US: Inventor’s supervisory capacity and signature on report containing withheld data did not establish intent to deceive: Hospira v Sandoz (Docket Report)

Staxyn (Vardenafil) – US: Bayer Pharma files patent infringement suit against Watson in response to Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

Tarceva (Erlotinib) – US: OSI files patent infringement suit against Roxane following Para IV certification (Patent Docs)

Xopenex (Levosalbutamol) – US: CAFC upholds declaratory judgment jurisdiction over subsequent ANDA litigation: Dey Pharma v Sunovion (Pharma Patents)

Zemplar (Paricalcitol) – US: Abbott files patent infringement suit against Agila Specialities in response to Para IV challenge (Patent Docs)

The Summer Olympics are in just a few months, and center-stage are those athletes from around the World who have dedicated the last four years to achieving their personal goal.

Top athletes need a supporting team with the relevant knowledge and experience to help their charges achieve their maximum potential. Selection will be based on a combination of attributes, including personal rapport, significant practical experience in the field, a record of success, excellent knowledge of the athlete’s particular activity, likely a good reference from a trusted source, and often it’s someone who has achieved a high personal level in the sport. A coach or trainer who does not have at least these attributes would not be in the running for selection.

It’s the same when considering an IP strategy consultant. You need someone (or a team of such individuals) who has real life experience managing IP strategy for companies. Excellent practical knowledge of how IP works and a track record of helping organizations achieve their goal through implementation are essential. Yet we see so much discussion from “IP Strategists” of theoretical concepts, schemes, plans, mind-maps etc. For sure, thinking about IP strategy and some representational platforms to inform companies and individuals have their place.  But, as an athlete would not select a trainer who is all theory and no relevant practical experience, the same is true of IP strategists.

Be careful. There are a lot of people climbing on the IP strategy bandwagon. Choose individuals and teams wisely; not based on some general conceptual IP strategy process or scheme that dissipates when you try to grasp its application in the real world, but rather choosing as an athlete would: someone with hard-nosed practical experience. IP is critical for company success. Choose your IP strategist well and go for gold.

Image credit: Chanwai

Here is Think IP Strategy’s weekly selection of top Online intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and internet.

Highlights this week included:

ND California: Partial verdict finds Google to have infringed Oracle’s Java API copyrights, fair use unanswered; Google calls for new trial (FOSS Patents) (FOSS Patents) (Ars Technica) (Out-Law) (FOSS Patents) (Patently-O) (FOSS Patents) (Ars Technica) (Ars Technica)

ED New York: An IP address is not a person: In re BitTorrent Adult Film Copyright Infringement Cases (The 1709 Blog) (Recording Industry vs The People) (TechnoLlama)

Please join the discussion by adding your comments on any of these stories, and please do let us know if you think we’ve missed something important, or if there is a source you think should be monitored.

Global

Global – Copyright

Facebook deliberately bans Grooveshark from its services (Ars Technica)

Pirate Bay slaps pathetic proxies and scammy copies (TorrentFreak)

BitTorrent set to rebrand itself as Gyre? (TorrentFreak)

Global – Patents

Micron, Round Rock and Intellectual Ventures – the plot thickens (IAM)

Australia

Agreements to block parallel imports to Australian online purchasers (ipwars.com)

Optus applies for special leave to appeal to the High Court in TV Now case (IP Whiteboard) (IPKat)

Canada

Something for nothing: the non-existent benefit of linking in the Access Copyright deal (Michael Geist)

Canada’s digital economy strategy: the e-commerce targets revealed (Michael Geist)

Industry Committee releases e-commerce study (Michael Geist)

Industry Committee Launches New Study on Intellectual Property (Michael Geist)

Chile

Streaming site ‘admin’ freed, but agrees 1 year hiatus with HBO (TorrentFreak)

China

China’s social network saw the patent light years before Facebook (IAM)

Czech Republic

Major cyberlocker movie pirate faces 5 years in prison (TorrentFreak)

Europe

CJEU decision in SAS v World Programming – “Shake-and-Strain” : it’s time for functionality again (IPKat)

EU Commissionersays ACTA is doomed (The 1709 Blog) (Michael Geist) (Michael Geist)

Kopimist church weds first couple (TorrentFreak)

Search engines’ plans to help combat piracy seek extra safeguards that existing EU law does not provide, expert says (Out-Law)

Germany

Microsoft’s prior user rights may trump Motorola’s push notification patent in Germany (FOSS Patents)

Microsoft makes headway with German lawsuits against Motorola over multi-part text message interface (FOSS Patents)

India

India orders blackout of Vimeo, the Pirate Bay and more (TorrentFreak)

Netherlands

District Court of The Hague forbids Pirate Party from linking to Pirate Bay proxies (TorrentFreak)

Five more Dutch ISPs given 10 days to censor The Pirate Bay (TorrentFreak)

New Zealand

New ISP offers Kiwis a “global mode” to bypass geo-blocking (Ars Technica)

Sweden

Pirate Bay founder Peter Sunde requests pardon (TorrentFreak)

Pirate Bay partners with Cybernorms at Lund University to continue work on largest yet file-sharing survey (TorrentFreak)

Switzerland

Swiss government postpones ACTA signature (IP Watch)

United Kingdom

EWHC judgment in Football Dataco v Sportradar – Online sports data company not liable for use of goal statistics from UK football matches (IPKat)

United States

US General

Overlapping copyright and patent rights: Oracle v Google (Patently-O)

US Patents – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Apple – Apple-Samsung summer trial still possible — Apple allowed to reassert ‘dropped’ claims in new lawsuit (FOSS Patents)

Apple and Samsung drop claims against each other but disagree more than ever on key issues (FOSS Patents)

Apple – ITC judge throws out 3,000+ pages of attachments filed by Apple to challenge Samsung’s patents (FOSS Patents)

Apple – ND Cal court awards preclusive sanctions to remedy late source code production: Apple v Samsung (EDTexweblog.com) (FOSS Patents)

Beacon Navigation – ALJ Pender grants motion to terminate investigation in its entirety in Certain Automotive GPS Navigation Systems (337-TA-814) (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Beacon Navigation – ALJ Pender rules on motion to recover costs and motion for show cause order in Certain Automotive GPS Navigation Systems (337-TA-814) (ITC 337 Law Blog)

California Institute of Technology – California Institute of Technology files new 337 complaint against STMicroelectronics, Nokia and Research in Motion regarding Certain CMOS Image Sensors (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Comcast – America Invents Act does not preclude centralisation by MDL panel: Comcast Cable Communications v Bear Creek Technologies (Docket Report)

Helferich Patent Licensing – Attack on Helferich Patent Licensing/Wireless Science patent, among the reexamination requests filed week of May 7, 2012 (WHDA)

High Point – Defendant ordered to produce settlement agreements for comparable technology, but not communications leading to settlements: High Point v Sprint Nextel Corporation (Docket Report)

LIS Corporation – Joint claim construction statement struck for exceeding maximum number of disputed claims: LSI Corporation v Vizio (Docket Report)

Microsoft – Schedules set and modified in Microsoft-Motorola FRAND obligations dispute (FOSS Patents)

Motorola – ITC asks ‘members of the public’ for input on how an Xbox import ban would affect the public interest (FOSS Patents)

Oracle – Engineers, experts take the stand as Oracle’s patent attack on Google advances (Ars Technica)

Oracle – Oracle, Google lawyers spar over Android’s Dalvik VM as patent phase begins (Ars Technica)

Trek Technology – ALJ Essex grants motion to terminate investigation as to ironkey in Certain Universal Serial Bus (“USB”) Portable Storage Devices, Including USB Flash Drives (337-TA-788) (ITC 337 Law Blog)

Yahoo – Yahoo: Facebook’s open compute project also violates our patents (Ars Technica)

US Copyright

The lengthening arm of Uncle Sam’s ‘pirate’ justice – Dept of Homeland Security’s visit to Australia (TorrentFreak)

Exercises in democracy: building a digital public library (Ars Technica)

EFF to testify at hearings on expanding DMCA exemptions for jailbreaking and video remixing (EFF)

The 2012 DMCA rulemaking: a primer (EFF)

Oracle v. Google and the dangerous implications of treating APIs as copyrightable (EFF)

Oracle v Google – EFF and FSF comments on partial jury verdict raise total non-issues (FOSS Patents)

Oracle v Google – Google’s take on API copyrightability is unique and a departure from established industry practice (FOSS Patents)

Good citizenship for online service providers: Let’s not let the DailyKos takedown be a preview of the 2012 Campaign Season (EFF)

DVDs and Blu-rays will now carry two unskippable government warnings (Ars Technica)

US Copyright – Decisions

ED New York: An IP address is not a person: In re BitTorrent Adult Film Copyright Infringement Cases (The 1709 Blog) (Recording Industry vs The People) (TechnoLlama)

US Copyright – Lawsuits and strategic steps

Google – Google accused of copyright infringement for using photos of Jimi Hendrix and John Coltrane in Google music service advertising (IP Whiteboard)

Massachusetts judge nixes ‘Oil Orgy’ scheme to scare P2P users into quick settlements (Ars Technica)

Oracle – Oracle’s copyright win may not amount to much as patent phase unfolds (Ars Technica)

Oracle – Oracle wants to preserve the jury’s infringement finding and limit retrial to ‘fair use’ (FOSS Patents)

Oracle – Judge Alsup believes ‘fair use’ issue my require new trial (FOSS Patents)

Oracle – Google calls for mistrial after jury’s partial findings of infringement in Oracle case (Out-Law) (FOSS Patents) (Patently-O)

Oracle – Partial verdict finds Google to have infringed Oracle’s Java API copyrights, fair use unanswered (FOSS Patents) (Ars Technica) (Ars Technica)

Oracle – ‘Fair use’ cases cited by Google don’t serve to justify Android’s infringement of Java APIs (FOSS Patents)

Oracle – Oracle v Google: fair use is a fairy tale – in reality, Android hijacked Sun Microsystems’ Java (FOSS Patents)

Perfect 10 – Iconic piracy suit against Google dismissed, despite $25,000 bounty (TorrentFreak)

Perfect 10 – Tumblr sued for its users’ copyright infringement in Perfect 10 v Tumblr (Recording Industry v The People)

Righthaven – Troll news – the demise of Righthaven (The 1709 Blog)

US Trademarks & Domain Names

Seized site’s lawyer: US breaking the law by taking domain names (Ars Technica)

Waiting on the RIAA, feds held seized Dajaz1 domain for months (Ars Technica) (TorrentFreak)

US Trade Marks & Domain Names – Decisions

Proview – Apple trademark ownership battle – California judge dismisses Proview’s fraud lawsuit (Ars Technica) (China Hearsay)

Vince Lombardi, the famous American football coach, said that, “Excellence is achieved by the mastery of the fundamentals.”  His football team were known to spend a lot of time practicing the fundamentals of blocking, tackling, and catching the ball.  All great plays are derived from these fundamentals.

For the IP strategist, the most fundamental aspect of IP protection is to have first rate IP prosecution.  Well-drafted and prosecuted IP can make up for many IP strategy mistakes, but mistakes on how IP documents are prepared and prosecuted can sink the best of IP strategies.

A necessary drive exists within the corporate world to drive down IP costs.  This makes sense to do.  Make sure you cut costs in the right places.  IP prosecution may not be that place if you put the enterprise at unnecessary risk by not having your ideas protected by attorneys who have truly mastered the prosecution art.  One missed tackle that should have been made can keep a contending football team out of the Super Bowl championship game.  The same is true for critical IP when it absolutely needs to stand up in court in order for the business to succeed.

Image credit: Hemera