Listing analysis and research matching Patents:
South Korea's biopharmaceutical patent footprint a year on from Hwang
A year on from the indictment of Hwang Woo-Suk for his embezzlement of research funds and faking of stem cell results how has the South Korean biotechnology developed and what prospects are there for biopharmaceutical partnering there today? Signs are that the South Korean biotechnology industry is beginning to recover from the Hwang scandal and its econoimic slump of the early 2000s. Silico Research's analysis of biotechnology-related patents filed at the USPTO by inventors from around the world from 1972 to the present shows that South Korean based inventors rank twelfth highest for all biotechnology-related patents, falling just below those from Australia and Switzerland.
Biotechnology beyond the US
USA based inventors continue to rank highest among the number of inventors filing biotechnology-related patents at the USPTO and have been increasing as a percentage since 1980. Outside the USA, inventors based in Tokyo in Japan and Vancouver in Canada are increasingly filing biotechnology-related patents at the USPTO indicating their growing importance in biotechnology innovation.
China's biopharmaceutical patent footprint
Chinese inventors are increasing filing for biotechnology patents with the American USPTO, peaking at 51 patents in 2003. Many of these patents are being filed by inventors based in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. A large proportion of the biotechnology-related patents are for antibody technology (42%), and a large proportion are being assigned to university institutions.
NDA applications continue to decline in 2006
Between 1996 and 2006 the number of new drug applications (NDAs) approved by the US FDA declined by 10 percent, dropping from 289 to 259. Silico Research's analysis of FDA and USPTO's databases shows that this fall has been accompanied by a reduction in the number of out-licensed drugs. An examination of a random selection of NDAs in 1996 and 2006 shows that the number of out licensed drugs dropped from 59 to 36 in this period, a decline of 30%.
Are universities the nation's scientific powerhouse or little more than costly ivory towers?
American universities are supposed to be becoming the nation's scientific powerhouse, turning innovative research into the applied science that will drive new products and wealth creation. Well that's the theory, anyway.
The Federal Trade Commission addresses refusal to licence
In April 2007 the US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission issued a report on antitrust enforcement and intellectual property rights. One of the key questions debated in the report was the degree to which antitrust laws can be used by one company to refuse the licensing of a patent to another company. Drawing on the views of over 300 business people, academics and lawyers collected through hearings and written submissions in 2002, the report highlighted the challenges licensors and licensees face in determining the limits of antitrust liability for refusals to license patents in the light of two diverging court decisions in 1992 (Image Technical Services Inc versus Eastman Kodak Co) and 2000 (Independent Service Organizations Antitrust Litigation versus Xerox Corporation).
Joint-ownership of patents inhibits licensing deals
Joint ownership of patents can be a major stumbling block to licensing deals being negotiated across international borders.
Novartis switching planned research investments from India to China
Novartis is reported to be switching hundreds of millions of dollars in planned research investments from India in the next few years in response to a court ruling rejecting it's challenge to a section of the country's Patents Act that aims to restrict certain kinds of patents. Novartis is planning to move the investments to China.
Yahoo! leads Amazon, Google and eBay, in patents at least
Despite all the noise made by Amazon's one click patent, Yahoo!, with 707 patents and applications filed, has pursued a far more aggressive patenting strategy than Amazon, eBay or Google. These figures include patents subsequently acquired by the major companies through acquisitions.
Latest research on the top patent lawyers
Silico Research's analysis of over 40,000 patents and applications filed at the USPTO in the life sciences and selected IT areas between 1995-2007 has shown that the California-based firm Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP was the leading patent firm when measured by the number of patents and applications filed.
