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Federal Circuit Finds an Absence of Utility in DNA Sequences, ESTs: Encumbrance of Patentability Holds Ramifications for Agricultural Industry
On Sept. 7, 2005, the Federal Circuit issued a hard-hitting decision for mavens of the agricultural sciences. The ruling touches on the patentability of a large portion of naturally occurring, protein encoding nucleotide sequences, referred to as “expressed sequence tags” or “ESTs.”
In In Re Fisher, No. 04-1465, 2005 WL 2139421 (Fed. Cir., Sep 07, 2005), the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (the “Board”) holding that absent evidence to support any claimed uses, ESTs lack the specific and substantial utility required by 35 U.S.C. '101 to render them patentable; and therefore under '112, do not enable one of ordinary skill in the art to use them.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.