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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.
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.
Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.
Coverage Issues Stemming from Dry Cleaner Contamination Suits
In recent years, there has been a growing number of dry cleaners claiming to be "organic," "green," or "eco-friendly." While that may be true with respect to some, many dry cleaners continue to use a cleaning method involving the use of a solvent called perchloroethylene, commonly known as perc. And, there seems to be an increasing number of lawsuits stemming from environmental problems associated with historic dry cleaning operations utilizing this chemical.