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Apple Strong Q4, Will Windows 7 Cause Apple Setback?

Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2009 fourth quarter ended September 26, 2009. The Company posted revenue of $9.87 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.67 billion, or $1.82 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $7.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross…

Comparative Advertising: BK vs. McDonalds and Wendy’s

Today I was searching the Internet for some interesting news to write about and I stumbled upon a press release from Burger King regarding its a ¼ pound Double Cheeseburger now being available for only $1. In some markets the ¼ pound Double Cheeseburger has been available for $1 for the past 18 months, but now it is being added…

Teva Sues Mylan Over Multiple Sclerosis Drug COPAXONE®

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. issued a press release last week discussing the abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) containing a Paragraph IV certification for COPAXONE® (glatiramer acetate injection), filed by Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. Teva announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Mylan Inc. and Natco Pharma Ltd. for patent infringement in the U.S. District Court for the…

Review: Blackberry Tour Not Ready for Prime Time

Whenever I travel I always take my laptop, and thanks to a Verizon USB wireless modem I can stay connected pretty much anywhere, although twice a year when I am in Chicago getting any signal is a challenge.  While I am not such a dinosaur that I don’t have a cell phone, I had resisted the Blackberry temptation, at least…

Anti-Innovation Chorus Continues Over Biologics

A press release issued earlier today by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) explained that a new article published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) urges Congress and the White House to revisit pending biogenerics legislation that would grant biotech companies an a 12-year exclusivity period for biologics. The press release explains that the experts, who are Harvard…

American University Lecture: What the Federal Circuit Can Learn from the Supreme Court–and Vice Versa

Description: Professor Rochelle Dreyfuss (New York University School of Law) on “What the Federal Circuit Can Learn from the Supreme Court–and Vice Versa”     Date & Time: October 20, 2009 from 5:00pm to 7:30pm Reception: 5:00 PM Lecture: 6:00 PM    

Does My Degree Qualify Me to Take the Patent Bar?

Some of the most popular pages month after month on IPWatchdog.com are our Patent Bar information pages, and given that I teach for the PLI Patent Bar Review Course we get a lot of e-mail inquiries regarding the patent bar examination.  Pretty much every week we hear from individuals who are interested in becoming patent agents or patent attorneys, and…

Work in Progress: Navigating the New USPTO Website

Recently I went to USPTO.gov and like many others noticed that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has launched its new website. You may recall that on August 31, 2009, the beta test release of its new website design, which was redesigned to improve the look and feel, as well as to enhance the user experience with improved navigation.…

Happy Birthday to Us! IPWatchdog.com turns 10!

It is almost difficult to believe that 10 years ago today IPWatchdog.com first launched.  At the time I was living in Orlando, Florida, and had just embarked upon what I had hoped would be a career as a full-time law school professor.  Things didn’t quite go according to plan on that front, but through all my travels, teaching at various…

Kappos Rescinds Claims & Continuations Rules, What Next?

By now most are likely aware of, or rapidly becoming aware of, the fact that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has finally done the right thing and has scrapped the claims and continuations rules that have divided the patent community for the last 26 months.  It is impossible not to recognize the new and refreshing tone set by…

Minority Report: Task Force on IP & Genetic Testing

Yesterday, the Task Force on IP and Genetic Testing submitted its Final Draft Report (titled Final Draft Report on Gene Patents and Licensing Practices and Their Impact on Patient Access to Genetic Tests) to the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society (SACGHS). SACGHS, in turn, voted to accept the recommendations, which will be passed on to Secretary Sebelius,…

HHS Assault on Gene Patents and Diagnostic Methods

UPDATED: 7:19pm on 10/8/2009 Today the Task Force on IP and Genetic Testing submitted its Final Draft Report (titled Final Draft Report on Gene Patents and Licensing Practices and Their Impact on Patient Access to Genetic Tests) to the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society (SACGHS). SACGHS, in turn, voted to accept the recommendations, which will be passed…

USPTO Agrees to Withdraw Claims & Continuations Rules

PRESS RELEASE: GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) today announced that it has reached agreement with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to join the USPTO’s motion to dismiss its litigation over Final Regulations published in August 2007 (Triantafyllos Tafas and SmithKline Beecham Corporation, SmithKline Beecham PLC and Glaxo Group Limited vs. David J. Kappos and the United States Patent and…

Obama Administration: The Harmonization Capitulation

If you have not already read the letter from Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to Senator Patrick Leahy (Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee) and Senator Jeff Sessions (Ranking Republican Member), you absolutely need to read it to comprehend the massive changes the Obama Administration is supporting with respect to patent reform.  It would be difficult to over exaggerate the magnitude…

Patent Reform: Obama Favors Major Changes to Patent Law

There has been something brewing for at least a couple weeks now on the patent reform agenda, and I have been trying to make sense of it all.  I am not sure I have my head wrapped around it yet, but the Wall Street Journal (via Dow Jones Newswire) is reporting that President Barack Obama is placing his support behind…