People are fine with it, because if companies instead use the patent system to shut out other start-ups, less innovation happens.
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The New York-based drug giant filed a lawsuit last year in the U.S.District Court inDelaware, alleging both Cialis and Levitra infringe a recent Viagra "method-of-use" patent.
Critical mass seems to be growing for serious patent reform legislation in the U.S. At the CES Innovation Policy Summit, the best-attended session so far featured Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who is co-sponsoring a bill which would severely limit the ability of holding companies to use the patent system to extort settlements, especially in the highly-litigated information technology sector.
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It may raise question marks over the use of a patent that depends heavily on competitor technology, though.
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It takes little more than a nod to get me started on free trade, land use controls, patent policy, employment discrimination laws, public unions, drug regulation and tort reform.
At root, this case tests whether courts can realistically enforce their judgments, including, as in this case, the judgment that a patentee has been denied the right to control the use of its patent.
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Mitsui Norin in Japan has taken out a patent to use gum to deliver an influenza vaccine.
Google also proposed giving Oracle 0.015% of revenues for use of a second patent which is valid until April 2018.
The patent also covers use of the bacterium in ointments, creams and lotions for treating gynaecological conditions.
Genentech gave them a license to its patent, excluding use for growth hormones.
With that in mind, here is my first guess at what knobs we might use to tune up the patent system.
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Holders of SEPs are obliged to licence the patent's use to competitors in return for a fee on so-called fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (Frand) terms.
Indeed, the Prozac patent that was overturned in court was not the patent on the compound, which expires in 2001, but a patent on the use of the compound to treat depression.
And, because the strategic value propositions (or use cases) for a patent often changed as a company developed and competed with others, my approach was an iterative one that was re-visited regularly in case a decision that was appropriate at one time was no longer appropriate because of new information.
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It was the first use of compulsory licensing under Indian patent laws passed in 2005.
Companies pay royalties to the patent holder and can use the technology to grow their business.
However, a product I work with (a specific alloy) had a patent granted for its use in sporting goods.
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In this one, Zhi Zhen claims they created Siri and Apple use of it infringes on their patent rights, the Shanghai Daily reported on Wednesday.
"The Ariad position is equivalent to discovering that gravity is the force that makes water run downhill and then demanding the owners of all the existing hydroelectric plants begin to pay patent royalties on their use of gravity, " says Armitage.
Meanwhile, an entire pharmacopoeia of medicines have gone off patent and fallen out of use.
This is the design patent that they tried to use against Samsung in California: and the one on which the jury said that Samsung was not guilty.
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In the last month, Kodak initiated lawsuits against Apple, HTC, and long-time nemesis Fujifilm for multiple patent violations related to the use of digital imaging technology in smartphones.
The goal: to identify and patent genes for industrial and agricultural use.
The European Commission charged Samsung Electronics on Friday with abusing its dominant position in seeking to bar rival Apple from using a patent deemed essential to mobile phone use.
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Advocates of change say judges who deem a patent to have been infringed should use more discretion in deciding between awarding damages and a course of action that could close all or part of a business.
If EchoStar prevails, similarly-situated companies will have even less incentive to seek out deals with patent-holders, instead relying on the courts to carve out for them an extended period of unlicensed use with a bill that comes due years later assuming the patent holder can afford to litigate for years and in an amount almost certainly far below the actual benefit conferred.
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Yep, if you use a process or technique that is covered by some patent that has already been awarded then the patent holder could come after you for infringement.
Google has struck back with claims that BT has infringed a method to allow PCs to use an internet-based telephone system based on a patent originally filed by Fujitsu.
Patent law gives inventors the exclusive rights to use or license their inventions, for a fixed period of time, to encourage disclosure and allow them to benefit from and recoup the cost of their invention.
Anyone else can then use that information for their own developments that may outflank your patent.
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