Insights
BSKB’s intellectual property attorneys write articles on important and timely topics in intellectual property law across a variety of industries. You’ll find the latest articles and industry insights here.
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July 24, 2020
Washington, D.C. NFL Team Loses Race to the Trademark Office: Does it Matter?
IPWatchDog
In surveys throughout the Washington, D.C. metro area, three possible replacement names have emerged as favorites among the fans: Warriors, Red Wolves, and Redtails. Armed with the knowledge of the name change and the relative popularity of the possible replacement names, two enterprising individuals have applied to obtain a federal trademark registration for the marks WARRIORS, WASHINGTON RED WOLVES, and WASHINGTON REDTAILS, respectively. Neither applicant appears to be connected to the owners of the Washington D.C. professional football team.
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July 10, 2020
Could good intentions lead to future danger?
LSIPR
MaryAnne Armstrong, Ph.D. discusses the potential risks to IP rights with open-access to technology, medicines and devices in the fight against COVID-19 in the latest issue of LSIPR.
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July 1, 2020
BSKB ASSISTS CLIENT IN SUCCESSFUL IPR CHALLENGES TO BIOPHARMACEUTICAL PATENTS FOR TREATING POMPE DISEASE
BSKB News
BSKB assists client in successful IPR Challenges to Biopharmaceutical Patents for Treating Pompe Disease
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May 11, 2020
The Importance of Correctly Identifying Goods and Services
World IP Review
Trademark rights are acquired through use of a mark in commerce. Applicants must correctly identify
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April 28, 2020
Indefinite claims at the PTAB
World Intellectual Property Review
Chad Rink and Hailey Bureau, Ph.D. talk about indefinite claims at the PTAB and alternative routes in WIPR- Issue 1.
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February 12, 2020
The relative stability of trpzip1 and its mutants determined by computation and experiment
RSC Advances
Six mutants of the tryptophan zipper peptide trpzip1 have been computationally and experimentally characterized. We determine the varying roles in secondary structure stability of specific residues through a mutation assay. Four of the mutations directly effect the Trp–Trp interactions and two of the mutations target the salt bridge between Glu5 and Lys8. CD spectra and thermal unfolding are used to determine the secondary structure and stability of the mutants compared to the wildtype peptide. Adaptive steered molecular dynamics has been used to obtain the energetics of the unfolding pathways of the mutations. The hydrogen bonding patterns and side-chain interactions over the course of unfolding have also been calculated and compared to wildtype trpzip1. The key finding from this work is the importance of a stabilizing non-native salt bridge pair present in the K8L mutation.
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May 20, 2019
Antibody patents: Danger ahead for biologics
Life Science IP Review
John Heithaus and Gerald Murphy discuss the evolution of antibody written description standards at the USPTO. Read more of their article featured in Life Science IP Review.
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September 30, 2018
Overcoming patent rejection
WIPR
The USPTO's interpretations of four Federal Circuit decisions can be summarized into three key points that help with overcoming rejections under 35 USC § 101, as MaryAnne Armstrong and Hailey Bureau of Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch explain.
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July 2, 2018
Case Law as a Guide to Trademark Ownership, Licensing and Enforcement
World Trademark Review
Under common law, ownership is conferred through first use of a trademark– including use by a licensee. Recent case law can help to determine which party has the right to enforce the licensed mark where an infringement suit arises.
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March 5, 2018
Case Law Shines a Light on Internet Evidence at Motion to Dismiss Stage
World Trademark Review
Assessing the relevance of internet evidence can be a daunting task for rights holders. However, if submitted accurately at the earliest stages, such evidence may sway infringement proceedings.
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March 5, 2018
The Importance of Correctly Identifying Goods and Services
World Trademark Review
Trademark rights are acquired through use of a mark in commerce. Applicants must correctly identify the goods and services with which their mark is intended for registration or risk refusal or cancellation.
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February 21, 2018
Mutational Analysis of Neuropeptide Y Reveals Unusual Thermal Stability Linked to Higher-Order Self-Association
ACS Omega
Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a 36-residue peptide, abundant in the central and peripheral nervous system. The peptide interacts with membrane-bound receptors to control processes such as food intake, vasoconstriction, and memory retention. The N-terminal polyproline sequence of NPY folds back onto a C-terminal α-helix to form a hairpin structure. The hairpin undergoes transient unfolding to allow the monomer to interact with its target membranes and receptors and to form reversible dimers in solution. Using computational, functional, and biophysical approaches, we characterized the role of two conserved tyrosines (Y20 and Y27) located within the hydrophobic core of the hairpin fold. Successive mutation of the tyrosines to more hydrophobic phenylalanines increased the thermal stability of NPY and reduced functional activity, consistent with computational studies predicting a more stable hairpin structure. However, mutant stability was high relative to wild-type: melting temperatures increased by approximately 20 °C for the single mutants (Y20F and Y27F) and by 30 °C for the double mutant (Y20F + Y27F). These findings suggested that the mutations were not just simply enhancing hairpin structure stability, but might also be driving self-association to dimer. Using analytical ultracentrifugation, we determined that the mutations indeed increased self-association, but shifted the equilibrium toward hexamer-like species. Notably, these latter species were not unique to the NPY mutants, but were found to preexist at low levels in the wild-type population. Collectively, the findings indicate that NPY self-association is more complex than previously recognized and that the ensemble of NPY quaternary states is tunable by modulating hairpin hydrophobicity.
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February 8, 2018
Prior Art Takes New Shapes: Relying on Non-traditional Prior Art to Invalidate a Patent
Pharmaceutical Patent Analyst
When we teach kids today about Internet privacy, one of the things that is emphasized is that once something has been posted on the Internet, that posting seemingly takes on a life of its own, with an eternal existence, even if the original poster deletes the posting. Unfortunately, companies have not learned this lesson and temporal items, such as press releases and Internet publications, can come back to haunt a patent owner in the form of invalidating prior art for a post-grant review. The following paragraphs consider ‘non-traditional’ prior art, for example, press releases, Internet publications, drug labels among others, and examine considerations in determining whether such non-traditional prior art can be used as a basis for invalidating a patent.
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October 16, 2017
Written Description: A State of Uncertainty
World Intellectual Property Review
As the bounds of antibody written description have yet to be clarified in the US, what can applicants do to protect their inventions?
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February 20, 2017
Exposure to Enhanced Damages After Halo
World Intellectual Property Review
The Halo decision on wilful patent infringement has made it desirable to accumulate evidence of good faith at the time of conduct in order to avoid enhanced damages.
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November 29, 2016
Halo: A Fresh Approach to Enhanced Damages
World Intellectual Property Review
A US Supreme Court ruling has changed the landscape for determining damages in cases of wilful patent infringement, as explained in the first edition of a two-part article series.
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June 15, 2016
Halo Returns Law of Enhanced Damages to Pre-Seagate Standard
BSKB
On Monday, June 13, 2016, in Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc., 579 U.S. _____; No. 14-1513, the Supreme Court turned back the clock on increased damages under 35 U.S.C. § 284, ruling that the test adopted in In re Seagate Technology, L.L.C., 497 F. 3d 1360 (Fed. Cir. 2007) “unduly confines the ability of the district courts to exercise the discretion conferred to them.”
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June 6, 2016
Breathing Life into Patents
Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review
Applicants wishing to extend their patents’ term of protection do not have to necessarily match up the wording of the claims and the label of the relevant drug for there to be infringement by an ANDA.
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May 2, 2016
Discovery In Post-Grant Review vs. Inter Partes Review
Law360
There are many factors that affect which type of post-grant proceeding to file, including timing for filing, estoppel, possible arguments for unpatentability, and available evidence. This article will focus on discovery in post-grant review versus inter partes review and evaluate whether or not additional discovery issues should be a factor in the decision of which proceeding to file. Currently, 10 post-grant reviews have been instituted and the number of patents eligible for post-grant review is growing as more and more America Invents Act patents are issued. For those patents that are eligible for post-grant review, would-be petitioners should evaluate whether a PGR or an IPR is the best option for arguing claims are unpatentable. Based on the limited data available, it appears that even though the number of possible issues in a PGR are broader and the standard for additional discovery is slightly more lenient, it is difficult to obtain additional discovery in a PGR. The ability to seek additional discovery in a PGR is much closer to that of an IPR as opposed to a district court proceeding.
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March 2, 2016
What We Know About Sanctions at the PTAB
Law360
In inter partes review, covered business method and post-grant review proceedings, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board can impose sanctions “against a party for misconduct,” which may include failure to comply with rules and orders; misleading or frivolous arguments or requests; factual misrepresentations; dilatory tactics; abusing discovery or “process;” and a catch-all “improper use of the proceeding.”[1] Possible sanctions include expunging filings; excluding evidence; precluding submission of papers, arguments or issues; awarding attorneys’ fees and “compensatory expenses”; requiring terminal disclaimers; and entering judgment or dismissing a petition.
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