Scientists Simplifying Science

The Patent Chronicle

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(May 2nd, 2017) Your weekly dose from the world of patents. The Patent Chronicle is led by Syam Anand, who has been at the core of CSG’s development and an entrepreneur himself. This section is your go to destination every week for a capsule dose on the hottest happenings in the patent world. Syam has clinically dissected out every news on the decision, the background and the impact. He is also in the process of building his scicomm team for this section. If you would like to come aboard, mail him at syam.anand@sciwri.club

 

40 years Patent Words Data Analysis highlights emerging trends.

Source: Analysis of words in the titles of patents and patent applications in the last 40 years at the USPTO by Turbopatent.

Observation: Clear change in trend of word usage through the years. The current leading trend is information processing.

Impact: Analysis of patents and patent applications data itself is a new trend. One can imagine machine learning and AI approaches being used more and more in the coming days to dig into the troves of patent data to get meaningful insights at a fast rate.
Watch an animated word cloud movie from Turbopatent in

The YouTube video appears as part of a copyrighted article from IPwatchdog. Read the article

Amgen Sandoz Patent Dance on Neupogen

Decision: Pending. The US Supreme Court is hearing arguments on Amgen vs Sandoz on Amgen’s blood thinner Neupogen.

Reason: Sandoz entered market with biosimilar Zarxio. Amgen contents that Sandoz did not comply with Patent Dance- a set of regulations under The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA), a part of the Affordable Care Act. The BPCIA creates an abbreviated approval pathway for biological products shown to be biosimilar to, or interchangeable with, an FDA-licensed reference biological product. The case centers on whether Sandoz’s failure to comply with the series of regulations and disclosures under Patent Dance gives Amgen a right to seek damages. Patent Dance’s goal is to avoid/reduce such litigations through disclosures between the makers of biologics and biosimilars.

Impact: The case could be a trendsetter as the SC is seen grappling with the complex law to arrive at a conclusion, aware of the fact that they could be setting a precedent. The stakes are high as the makers of biologics and biosimilars seek to understand and navigate the law.

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 Clean energy patent filings plateaus off

Source: Brookings Institute Report entitled “Clean energy innovation trends and priorities for the Trump administration and Congress”.

Observation: The authors of the report analyzed patent data related to a number of energy fields, including solar, wind, energy storage, energy efficiency, and nuclear power. They found that the number of patents filed slipped back from 35,000 to 32,000 from 2015 to 2016. This coincides with the decision by the Trump administration to drastically cut funding for clean energy initiatives.

Impact: It appears that in the absence of federal government research support and rolling back of energy regulations, the private sector might find it difficult to secure the resources and market for further innovations. US could lose its ability to compete in this sector as a result.

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The report is available from this link

 

ReFORM Biologics secures patent for viscosity-reducing excipients

Decision: USPTO granted a patent entitled ““Viscosity-Reducing Excipient Compounds for Protein Formulations,” to ReFORM Biologics.

Reason: ReFORM’s patented technology reduces the viscosity of highly concentrated solutions of proteins for subcutaneous injection or device-assisted administration, or to improve filtration unit operations.

Impact: The company has focused on viscosity-reducing, stability-enhancing and surfactant-replacement excipient platform technologies. The patent adds to their limited portfolio. But it would attract pharmaceutical partners who are looking for solutions to formulate highly concentrated biopharmaceuticals, helping to translate the technology into the market.
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Indian Patent Office aiming to cut down examination time to 18 months

Decision: According to the Indian Commerce and Industry minister, Government of India is taking steps to make this happen by March 2018.

Reason: Huge lag in examining pending applications, numbering over 250000, at the Indian Patent Office. Improvement in quality of examination, compliance with global rules and regulations and enforcement training at the local level are some aspects that the government is focusing on.

Impact: Indian Patent Office has a long way to go. The acknowledgement of the drawbacks by a minister is a good sign that the Government has taken note of the problems and is taking steps to protect innovation.

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About the author:

Syam

Authored by Dr Syam Anand, PhD (Indian Institute of Science, IISc; Post-Doctoral research, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; Faculty, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Founder and US Patent Agent, Mainline Intellectual Property LLC, Ardmore, Philadelphia USA). Syam has over 20 years experience in diverse areas of Science with domain knowledge in Life Sciences and Intellectual Property. Dr. Anand is also an inventor and budding entrepreneur. A rationalist, Dr. Anand enjoys science at all levels and advocates the use of scientific methods for answering all questions and solving all problems and make common people curious and interested in understanding their worlds.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/syamprasadanand

Featured Image source: Twitter

Blog design: Abhinav Dey

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