PATENT NEWS
Patent Service on Internet
Derwent would now provide the original American patent documents and not just the abstracts on the Internet. The instant availability of such detailed information online could be protection for data down to the last detail. But it also brings such data in the open for competitors to see. The new information will become available by early 1997 following an agreement between Derwent and Microsoft.
ll1e University of Mississippi Medical Centre patent for haldi is based on the argument that haldi was not used in India to treat external wounds. The new service would make. every detail of such claims instantly available on a computer online anywhere, not necessarily through the US patents office.
Initially there will be patents only from the US on the Internet. But Derwent is negotiating similar an-angements with other countries.
The development is expected to be a strong influence on research and development within India as in other countries. The Indian patent market has grown rapidly within its tiny scope. From about 3,500 patent applications in 1993-94, the number is expected to be about 10,000 to 12,000 during 1996, a more than three-fold increase.
But Indian confrontations with US patent holders, as in the haldi and earlier the neem case, could become trendsetting test cases that can make Indian patent laws and applications significant though small. The new development not only protects more information but also makes more information
available. Ninety percent of patents are legally freely usable because they are past their 20-year date, said Mukesh Sharma of Derwent.
For American companies, this development amounts to a public declaration of every detail they have patented. The move seeks to cut out possibly grey areas in claims made by others. "But the precise information that will now be available can greatly benefit competitors. Competitors can now have a clear idea of what has gone before. Looking at the particulars of a process can also provide a solution to technical problems. TIle legal jargon for various processes can also be instructive in suggesting ways to protect patents," said Mr Sharma.
The new information will have business as well as technological implications. Details of companies and the invention will be instantly available. Following the pattern of a company's patents can tell competitors which way that company is moving, he said and "survey the state-of-the-art." Apart from monitoring the activities of competitors the new online information could provide opportunities to "spot the key players and headhunt the experts to avoid enter ing a saturated market," said Mr Sharma.
The new information can also have an offshoot in terms of licensing possibilities. Companies with similar or complementary processes can now begin to work out collaborations for production through to marketing, said Mr Sharma (E.T., 19.11.96).
PATENT NEWS 107
Change in Patent law in USA
As a result of the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade (GATf), there has been a major change in US Patent Law. The change would permit an applicant or patentee to establish a date of invention based on evidence of inventive activity occurring outside, as well as inside, the USA.
A furth er effect of this law change is to allow the applicant to "swear back" to this date of invention in order to show that it was earlier than the date of publication of a reference cited as prior art against a patent application.
This change becomes effective on I January 1996. Prior to 1 January 1996, the only date that a non-US patent applicant can rely on is the date of filing of a US patent application or, if any, a priority application, even though the invention was actually made before filing.
Accordingly, after 1 January 1996, non-US inventors will be able to establish invention dates prior to 1 January 1996, although pre-1 January 1996 information is to be treated as showing a date of invention of 1 January 1996. That is to say, the earliest date which can be established is either the filing date or 1 Janu;:u-y 1996 for events occurring prior to 1 January 1996.
New Patent Law in Japan
There are changes in the patent granting procedure and publications of patent documents because of the new patent law which was amended as of 1 July 1995 and 1 JanuaJ-Y 1996.
Changes in Patent Granting Procedure
(1) Maximum lifetime of a patent -The new patent law sets forth that the term of a patent shall be 20 years from th e application date.
(2) Patent applications in foreign language -The new patent law allows an applicant to make a patent application in foreign language, provided that the applicant files a Japanese translation of the application within two months from the application date. At present, only English is acceptable. The Japanese translation is regarded as authentic.
(3) Opposition after granting a patent -Under the old law, examined patent applications have been published for opposition challenge before a patent is granted. The new law sets forth that a granted patent should be published, and that anyone can oppose it within six months from the publication of the patent.
Changes in Publication of Patent Documents
(1) A-documents -A-documents continue to be published on CD-ROM apO CD-ROM A&U) 18 months after the publication date. They have the same style of publication number as under the old law, i.e. a two-digit emperor's year number followed by a sixdigit serial number.
With respect to the patent applications in English, the Japanese translation of the claim, the specification, drawings and the abstracts are published on the CD-ROM together with their English equivalents.
Japanese translations of unexamined PCT applications designating Japan have also been published on the CD-ROM with search reports as A-documents since January 1996. The publication number of these new documents consists of a two-digit emperor's year number and a six-digit serial number beginning with 50000l.
(2) B-documents -B-documents will continue to be published on CD-ROM apo CD-
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ROM B&Y) after examination. However, the B-documents under the new law will represent granted patents while the current Bdocuments (published exa min e d applications) are published before a patent is granted. Publication of the CUlTent Bdocuments (publication of applications examined under the old law) terminated by the end of March 1996 and the new 8-documents started publishing in Jun e 1996 [World Pat In/, 18(3) 1996,170].
US patent for extending core vaccine technology
Aquila Biopharmaceuticals Inc has been issued a patent which covers chemical modifications to the company's propri etary Stimulon adjuvants including QS-21. The patent also contains claims to an alternative method for producing products through chemically linking antigens to the Stimulon adjuvants.
Aquila's proprietary human vaccine program includes the Quilimmune-P vaccine for the prevention of pneumococcal infections, which recently entered clinical trials, and products in development for malaria and the tick-borne diseases, Lyme disease and human granulocytic ehrlichiosis.
ll1e technology covered under the newly issued patent allows Aquila to chemically modify isolated saponin adjuvants and chemically link antigens to adjuvants.1l1ese modifications do not destroy the adjuvant activity conferred by critical portions of saponin adjuvant molecules and may enable alternate methods for formulating vaccine products.
ImaRx awarded contrast media patents
ImaRx Pharmaceutical Corporation has been issued four US patents covering major aspects of its ultrasound contrast agent technology.
US Patent 5,542,935 covers a device for making specialized liposomal compositions for use in therapeutic applications of ultrasound imaging in addition to related aspects of the technology. The liposomes contain acoustically active gases or gaseous precursor substances which substantially enhance the images produced when ultrasonic waves are used to scan body tissues.
US Patent 5,558,092 covers methods and apparatus for simultaneous diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound imaging. Reception of ultrasonic emissions at harmonics of the frequ ency of the therapeutic ultrasound waves are noteworthy. The therapeutic ultrasonic waves are continuous-wave or pulsed. ImaRx's patented contrast agent v sides can contain bioactive agents which are released when the ultrasound waves rupture the vesicles, thereby providing the therapeutics in a noninvasive fashion.
US patent 5,580,575 furthers ImaRx's position as a leader in research and development of drug delivery facilitated by liposomes. The compositions of acoustically-active gas in the liposomes allow ultrasound imaging to monitor the position of the therapeutics in specific regions of the body as well as the rupture of the liposomes and the release of the therapeutic at the site requiring the drug. Especially targeted are the lungs and left ventricle of tl1e heart.
US Patent 5,585,112 provides extended patent coverage for a wide variety of perfluorocarbon-based liposomal contrast agents, as well as other related chemical compositions.
PATENT NEWS 109
Antex Biologics receives allowance for patent on influenza protein
Antex Biologics have received an allowance from US Patent and Trademark Office for a patent claiming a H. in/luenzae (nontypable) purified protein , recombinant forms of the protein, methods of inducing an immune response, and compositions and vaccines for otitis media infections.
H. in/luenzae is a common worldwide bacterial pathogen of humans, particularly infants and children, causing otitis media or inner ear infection . Approximate ly 25 mill io n cases of ear infec tions are treated annually in the US alone, triple the number in 1975. This dramatic increase is expected to continue because of the increasing, resistance of the bacteria to antibiotic th erapy. Presently, there are no vaccin es on the market fo r this disease.
Medimmune obtains US patent for respiratory syncytial virus antibody
MedImmune Inc has been issued a US patent fo r RespiGam (Respiratory Syncytial Virus Immune Globulin (Human» . The pa tent covering the material composition of RespiGam is owned by Massachusetts Health Resea rch In s titu te, Inc and is exclusively licensed to Medimmune.
RespiGam, a polyclonal antibody preparation , is currently being launched in the United States by Medimmull e and its partner, American Home Products Corporation to prevent serious illness caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in certain highri sk infants. Medimmun e has established a col\aboratioll with Baxter International Illc fo r commercialization of RespiGam outside of North America. RSV is the leading cause
of pneumonia and bronchiolitis in infants and children.
US patent for xenotransplantation licensed to Alexion Pharmaceuticals
The United States patent, genetic engineering of mammalian cells with a human complement inhibitor issued to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and Yale University (New Haven, C1) has been exclusively licensed to Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Xenotransplantation is the transplantation of nonhuman organs and tissues into human patients. The genetic engineering of porcine cells, ti ssues and organs with a human complement inhibitor may present a highly effective means of protecting such xenogenic cells, tissues and organs from destruction by the human immune system, thereby providing xenotransplantation products.
Th e use o f non-human ti ssu es , o r xenografts, in transplantation has generally not been feasible due to the rejection of these non-human tissues by the human immune system. Since the rejection process is initially mediated by complement protein s, therefore, the application of human complement inhibitors is necessary for successful xenotransplantation.
Tra ns plantation of non-human ti ssu e (xenografts) into patients is generally believed to be limited by a severe and rapid form of transplant rejection called hyperacute rejection. Hyperacute rejection is generally believed to be mediated by naturally occurring antibodies in the patient, most of whi ch targe t a ca rbohydra te antige n uniquely present on the surface of non-human ti ssue (but not on the patient's own tissue). After binding to the foreign tissue,
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these antibodies activate a cascade of enzymatic reactions whereby normally inactive complement proteins are tran sformed into their activated disease-causing byproducts on the surface of the xenograft resulting in severe ti ssue destruction and organ fa ilure.
In collaboration with United States Surg ical Corporation , Alexion is developing genetically eng in eered organs that express both a human blood group enzyme to eliminate the antibody-targ eted carbohydrate epitopes and a human complement inhibitor that will act as an additional protective shield against the human complement proteins.
Several thousand patients die each year in the United States as a result of inadequate organ supply. The demand for organ transplantation is lncreasing at an annual rate of 15-20%. However, the supply of human donor organs has not increased substanliaIIy. Publi shed articles estimate that approximately 100,00 patients yearly would medically benefit fro m organ transplantation if sufficient organs were ava ilable.
Patent for targeted drug delivery
Advanced Magnetics Inc. has received a patent from the United States [or delivery of therapeutic agents to receptors using polysaccharides.
One potential application und er development is the delivery of th erapeutics to the liver for the treatment of Hepatitis B. In animal studies, AM I co mbin ed the antiviral agent Vidarabine with a poiysaccharide that targets the liver. This conjugate showed substantial increase in viral replication and exhibited less toxicity than Vidarabine alo ne.
Patent Cell for herbal medicine
The Department ofIndian Systems for Medicine and Homeopathy (ISM and H) is going
to set up a patent cell with a view to protecting the knowledge available within the country regarding the use of herbal plants. The urgent need for setting up this cell is scientists working in the fi eld of ISM and H are not well versed with the highly tech nical procedure for applying for patents. The State Health Ministers also stressed upon the need for a national policy for ISM and H drugs to serve as a reference source for the pharmaceuticals industry. The policy would cover issues like the role of ISM and H in the health care system, IPR and patents, matter relating to import and export of raw drugs and protocols for standardisation, quality control and research & development with provisions to include new drugs under ISM and H (Hindu, 20.2.97).
IBM Patents
IBM has won more patents in the US than any other company for the fourth year 1997. During 1996, the US Patent Office accepted 1867 of IBM's applications. Canon was second with 1538 patents and Motorola th ird with 1064 patents.
IBM patent (US 5 521650) on technology [or video-on-demand, which lets a cable TV subscriber control a remote server as If it were a home video player, complete with fast-fo rward and rewind is worth appreciating. US patent 5 530 759 describes a method of watermarking images to prove own ership, even after th ey have been copied fro m the internet.
IBM is now using the Internet to post an index of the 2 million US patents it has won over the last 26 years. Searching is free and by keyword. Searchers can view a full copy of each of the million patents issued since 1987.
PATENT NEWS 111
Proctor & Gamble files patent for herbicides
Proctor & Gamble of Cincinnati, Ohio, is filing patent applications around the world CWO 96/32103) which claim that some types of weed-killer can cure cancer. A mixture of systemic herbicides known as N-chlorophenyicarbamates and N-chlorophenyl-
thiocarbamates, with N-phosphonoglycine derivatives, will inhibit the growth of tumours in mammals, particularly humans. The same composition will also treat viral infections such as herpes, HIV and influenza. The patent claims that when taken orally, the concoction kills tumour cells much more quickly than healthy cells.