Category Archives: Public Policy

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The U.S. Government’s Position in ACLU v. Myriad Genetics

Hans Sauer BTN

Hans Sauer, BIO’s Deputy General Counsel for Intellectual Property, comments on  the Department of Justice’s brief and oral argument in the Myriad “gene patent” case.  Read his guest collumn on IPWatchdog. I have often wondered why the DOJ showed up out of nowhere two years ago, and started pressing legal theories that are contrary to decades of U.S. government policy and established patent law, and that would potentially invalidate thousands of patents to DNA molecules, enzymes, Read More >

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Patent Evergreening in India: Response from the Other Side

Plant

Thank you Adriana for commenting on my article Patent “Ever-Greening”: Novartis Confronts Patent Myth in India.  Before I respond, here is your full comment: Adriana says: While patients in India may still be able to access a generic form of off-patent imatinib mesylate (Glivec) if Novartis wins their legal challenge (because this “original form” was never patented in India due to India’s patent law not allowing product patents on medicines prior to 2005), a legal Read More >

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Massachusetts Governor and Lawmakers Improve Patient Access

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Earlier this week Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed the 2013 budget. Within that budget are two provisions that will ultimately benefit healthcare consumers within the Commonwealth. The first provision was a partial repeal of the Massachusetts gift ban law enacted two years ago. In the words of Governor Patrick, “This narrow change will afford healthcare providers some flexibility to be educated on new clinically relevant products and allow them to stay informed on advancements in Read More >

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Seed Patents: How Innovation May Get Lost in the Grain Elevator

Seeds

The Bowman v. Monsanto case currently on petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court highlights some unique aspects about protecting agricultural biotechnology innovation. On April 2, the Supreme Court invited the Solicitor General to file a brief to explain the views of the United States on the Federal Circuit’s refusal to find patent exhaustion and whether an exception to that doctrine should be created for self-replicating technologies. Before making recommendations about patent Read More >

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Americans, Biotech Execs, Convention Attendees Optimistic About Biotech

Key Findings From A  National Survey Of Voters

What does the future hold for biotechnology? After surveying American voters, biotech executives, and attendees here the 2012 BIO International Convention, we learned that the future is indeed bright.  More than three quarters of American voters, nearly all the biotech execs, and 1,400 of the attendees we spoke to are optimistic that science and technology will find cures to help patients suffering from serious diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and HIV/AIDS. Tempering that Read More >

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