Patentees Score A Victory In The Supreme Court Of Canada: Validity Of Selection Patents Upheld.
Overview On Thursday, November 6, 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada released its much-anticipated decision in Sanofi-Synthelabo Canada Inc. v. Apotex Inc., 2008 SCC 61 (Sanofi). In this landmark decision, the Supreme Court gives considerable strength to pharmaceutical patents by rejecting Apotex's generalized attack on selection patents...

Barr Confirms Patent Challenge of Opana(R) ER Extended-Release Tablets, 5 mg, 10 mg, 20 mg and 40 mg.
MONTVALE, N.J., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today confirmed that its subsidiary, Barr Laboratories, Inc., has initiated a challenge of the patents listed by Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. in connection with its Opana(R) ER (oxymorphone hydrochloride) extended-release tablets, 5 mg, 10 mg, 20 mg and 40 mg. ...

Finding the right tool for the job: adequate protection for research tool patents in a global market?
I. PATENT LAWS IN THE UNITED STATES II. PROCESS PATENTS AMENDMENT ACT--HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE III. BIOPHARMACEUTICALS: THE SCIENCE AND THE INDUSTRY A. Biotech 101-A Basic Primer on the Relevant Science B. The Focus of Biotechnology in the "Post-Genomic" Era C. What is a "Research Tool"? D. The Marriage of the...

Trips-compliant new Patents Act and Indian pharmaceutical sector: directions in strategy and R&D.
With the much awaited amendment in the Patents Act in March 2005, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2005, India has finally met its obligations under the TRIPS agreement. However, this has set a new debate not only in India but also in other developing countries, especially from the African subcontinent,...

Lawyers love dirty e-mails, not murder.
Byline: Gireesh Chandra Prasad NEW DELHI: Law practice in India is gradually moving from crowded courts to cosy corporate climes. Various streams of corporate commercial practice and arbitration have started eating into the share of litigation, which now accounts for 90% of the total legal services in...

Genta Licenses Antisense Technology to EpiGenesis Pharmaceuticals.
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J., and CRANBURY, N.J., July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Genta Incorporated (Nasdaq: GNTA) today announced completion of a licensing agreement for several patents to EpiGenesis Pharmaceuticals of Cranbury, NJ. The non-exclusive agreement includes an upfront cash payment, along with royalty payments on product sales. Fundamental claims...

TRIPS compliance: dealing with the consequences of drug patents in India.
I. INTRODUCTION II. RESPONDING TO THE THREAT OF INCREASED DRUG PRICES A. Will Drug Prices Actually Rise? B. Drug Price Controls C. Governmental Purchasing Power D. Compulsory Licenses E. Lax Enforcement of Patent Rights F. Public-Sector Drug Development G. Summary III. RESPONDING TO THE THREAT TO INDIAN INDUSTRY A....

Patently unfair trade: India's state-protected pharmaceuticals industry is being patented, privatised and plundered by WTO trade rules.
India's pharmaceutical industry, the world's fourth largest by volume, is a major exporter of relatively cheap generic medicines to both developed and developing countries. In 2001, the Mumbai-based firm Cipla commenced exports of a generic version of a triple-combination drug for the treatment of HIV/AIDS to Africa for around...

WTO accepts rules limiting medicine exports to poor countries.
On August 30, 2003, a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland adopted new rules on exporting generic copies of patented drugs to poor countries. The WTO and some of its trade delegates presented these rules as a grand humanitarian solution that will now make AIDS and other...

U.S. blocks trade agreement on generic drug access in poor countries.
On December 20, international trade talks in Geneva, Switzerland failed to resolve the major remaining issue on access to generic versions of patented medicines in developing countries to meet public-health needs. All 143 other countries were ready to accept a compromise text negotiated on December 16. But the U.S....