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Dilworth IP welcomes Nicholas Vincent, a Technology Specialist who will be joining the Firm’s growing Biotech and Pharmaceutical Practice. Nick is currently working toward his doctorate in Microbiology at Yale University where he received the Gruber Science Fellowship, awarded to the highest ranked PhD candidate in his/her field. He also currently serves as the Chairman of the Yale Graduate Student Assembly, and has previously served as the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine. Nick has a specialized background in microbiology, molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, protein biology, RNA biology, microbial pathogenesis, and immunology. His expertise in these cutting-edge technologies further strengthens the Firm’s Biotech and Pharmaceutical Practice area and strengthens Dilworth IP’s commitment to providing our clients with the highest level of technical proficiency. We are excited to welcome Nick to our team.

Dr. Anthony D. Sabatelli, Partner and Chair of the Life Sciences group at Dilworth IP, will be presenting a FREE webinar on Wednesday, September 7th at 1:00 PM (EDT). This installment in the Dilworth IP Webinar Series is entitled What is Patent Eligible: The Ever-evolving Section 101 Standard, and will focus on the inconsistencies in how patent subject matter eligibility is interpreted by the USPTO and the courts. Despite the Supreme Court’s articulation of a two-part test for determining such eligibility (i.e. the Mayo/Alice test), it is often not easy to predict how this test will actually be applied by the U.S. Patent Office or the courts. Dr. Sabatelli’s presentation will offer clarity to those dealing with this uncertainty.

Nanoparticles, due to their unique structure, often possess an enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. These particles can preferentially accumulate in tumors, resulting in higher drug concentrations at targeted sites and consequently higher therapeutic efficacy with lower toxicity for surrounding normal tissue. Also nanoparticle carriers can be designed to encapsulate and deliver cancer drugs having poor water solubility. These favorable characteristics render nanoparticles as promising potential delivery systems for cancer therapies.

Interestingly, the court unearthed an 1864 Supreme Court decision, Godfrey v. Eames, 68 U.S. 317 (1864), for the origin of same-day continuations and the idea of copendency. The court opined that the intent of the drafters of the 1952 Patent Act was to codify the longstanding practice of following Godfrey’s rule

This year Congress gave business owners a new tool to combat theft of their trade secrets: the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, Public Law No: 114-153 (18 U.S.C. 1836(b)) (“DTSA”). Even prior to DTSA, theft of trade secrets was a federal offense under 18 U.S.C.1832 (“Theft of Trade Secrets”)(“ToTS”), exposing offenders to penalties up to $5 million. However, only the U.S. Attorney General was authorized to take action against wrongdoers under this statute, so victims of trade secret theft hoping for compensation or enforcement when the AG would not act had to rely on state law. DTSA now gives victims of trade secret misappropriation a right of private action, with a remedy not available under state l

For clinical therapeutics, there is a great need to develop new approaches to fight chronic and incurable diseases and further improve the efficiency of medical treatments. The current research focus and opportunities for nanomedicine in therapeutics include the development of rapid and accurate analytical techniques, safe and targeted drug delivery systems, improved controlled drug release systems, and the discovery of alternative and innovative therapeutic methods. In this article, I will specifically discuss the use of nanoparticles for drug delivery.

The Supreme Court has denied the petition for certiorari in Ariosa v. Sequenom, dashing hopes that it would reconsider the patent subject matter eligibility strictures on medical diagnostics and other technologies established by the scope of its Myriad, Mayo, and Alice rulings. As we reported previously, Sequenom petitioned the court in March of this year, asking:

Whether a novel method is patent-eligible where: (1) a researcher is the first to discover a natural phenomenon; (2) that unique knowledge motivates him to apply a new combination of known techniques to that discovery; and (3) he thereby achieves a previously impossible result without preempting other uses of the discovery?

After undertaking its first post-grant review (PGR) since the passage of the America Invents Act (AIA), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) invalidated two patents last Monday. Citing the 2014 Alice decision, the board ruled that patents 8,660,888 and 8,725,557 claimed patent-ineligible abstract ideas, and that the ‘557 patent was obvious over the prior art.
The patents had been granted to Leachman Cattle of Colorado LLC. In its petition for review, the American Simmental Association challenged that Leachman’s method of “determining an animal’s relative economic value based on its genetic and physical traits” was not patent eligib

William R. Reid, Partner at Dilworth IP, will be hosting a FREE webinar on Wednesday, July 20th at 1:00 PM (EDT). This entry in the Dilworth IP Webinar Series is entitled Now that the Dust has Settled for the AIA – Where We’ve Been, Where We Are, and Where We Need to Go, and will focus on the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) of 2012. The AIA is widely recognized as causing the most significant change to the U.S. patent system since 1952, and Mr. Reid will consider its impact on both patent procurement and enforcement. In particular, he will address the trends in the new post-grant proceedings, the significant issues which still need further clarification from the Federal Circuit, and the potential additions/corrections to the AIA to expect in the future. This presentation will provide patent practitioners and owners with the information they need to guide their patent strategies in light of the AIA as well as looking at how the AIA has been applied over the last three years, with an eye toward some of its ongoing issues.

Anthony D. Sabatelli, PhD, and Frederick A. Spaeth, Partners at Dilworth IP, are presenting a talk on “Intellectual Property Considerations for Entrepreneurs.” Their talk will be part of a series of training seminars offered by the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute (“YEI”) to their summer fellow venture teams. The event will take place today, Monday, June 13th at YEI, 254 Elm Street in New Haven, CT. Dilworth IP is a corporate partner of YEI.