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The Golden Rule of Biological Inventions And the Written Description Requirement
Patent practitioners are the legal world's great interpreters. Clients rely on these attorneys for their ability to speak two languages: the language of the law and the language of science. A company with a well-organized in-house legal department can take proactive steps in the growth of the company's intellectual property to ensure that when legal protection is sought in the form of a patent, certain statutory requirements have been met and that the legal instrument through which patent protection is sought (a specification or “the disclosure”) adequately describes the invention. Furthermore, legal counsel can be positioned to provide oversight during the inventive process by focusing researchers' attention on properly documenting patentable ideas. Additionally, among other things, legal counsel can help researchers identify patentable ideas. What might be considered minor and not noteworthy to a researcher may be sufficiently inventive to warrant patent protection. In the biotech or pharmaceutical industry, a strong patent position is often defined not by a single pioneering and patented invention but by numerous smaller inventions comprising a
patent portfolio.
In an ideal world, a business would have a patent practitioner everywhere at once: in the lab, in the office, and in the boardroom. The purpose of this article is to interpret a sphere of patent law related to the description of biological inventions in terms that are practical for researchers and business managers in the biotech industry who live in a non-ideal world. While a proper patent application is best drafted by an experienced patent professional, understanding the requirements of a properly drafted specification can save a business frustration, cost, and the loss of intellectual property protection. In particular, because the “written description” of a patent application is the product of the inventor, a basic legal understanding of the requirements of this section can also inform a researcher's documentation and inventive path, resulting in stronger IP protection.
Law Firms are Reducing Redundant Real Estate by Bringing Support Services Back to the Office
A trend analysis of the benefits and challenges of bringing back administrative, word processing and billing services to law offices.
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.
Bit Parts
Summary Judgment Denied Defendant in Declaratory Action by Producer of To Kill a Mockingbird Broadway Play Seeking Amateur Theatrical Rights
Risks of “Baseball Arbitration” in Resolving Real Estate Disputes
“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.
Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel
'Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel is a continuation of the discussion of client expectations and the disconnect that often occurs. And although the outside attorneys should be pursuing how inside-counsel actually think, inside counsel should make an effort to impart this information without waiting to be asked.