Limiting Access to Investigational Drugs
March 27, 2007
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in March began reconsideration of its decision that held it was unconstitutional for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to withhold experimental drugs from terminally ill patients. The order for rehearing en banc was issued in November 2006. The case pits dying, often desperate, patients against the FDA and its policies aimed at protecting the public from dangerous and unproven medications.
The Many Shields of Immunity
March 27, 2007
Physicians and policymakers have long decried the risk of malpractice liability as the greatest obstacle to volunteerism in health care. Over time, lawmakers across the country have responded to these concerns, and today there is an array of federal and state laws that protect volunteer health care providers from lawsuits arising from the provision of charitable medical care. Prudent defense counsel should be aware of the laws that exist to protect volunteer health care providers, and should know just when those laws apply. What federal and state statutes immunize providers of charitable health care, and how can those statutes operate to protect defendants in medical malpractice actions?
Movers & Shakers
March 27, 2007
This month marks the beginning of a new feature in which <i>Patent Strategy & Management</i> expands its coverage to provide information about the advancement of lawyers in the patent profession.
Determinants of Patent Value in U.S. Litigation
March 27, 2007
Part One of this series discussed reasonable royalty damages and the questions that a prospective litigant can ask to evaluate its litigation exposure. This month's installment continues the discussion of those questions.
Damages under the Entire Market Value and Convoyed Sales Rules
March 27, 2007
In patent infringement cases, defining the scope of the real injury to the patentee poses a challenge when the patent only covers a portion of a product or system. Courts have developed the entire market value and convoyed sales rules in an attempt to address the true economic loss to the patentee caused when the patented invention is part of a more complex product or of a larger system of goods sold together. These doctrines have been criticized for a number of years and are the targets of legislative activity.
The Patent Marking Statute
March 27, 2007
Since 1842, U.S. law has required patent owners to provide notice of their patent rights to the public by marking patented articles. The current statute, codified at 35 U.S.C. '287(a), provides that a failure to mark bars a patentee from obtaining damages for the period before it provided a defendant in a patent infringement action with actual notice of its infringement allegations. This can have a significant financial impact, as up to six years of potential damages may be lost.
IP Branding: Adding Value to a Business
March 27, 2007
In a nutshell, the value of a firm or business is equal to not only the inherent value of its IP but also the value added from the successful branding of a company's intangible assets. This article presents four key steps, with a focus on patents and trademarks, toward adding an IP branding strategy to an existing business model.
'The Continuum of Value'
March 27, 2007
Despite no seeming fundamental economic differences, there have been occasions where divorce courts in different states have reached different conclusions of value for the same type of business. These states reach such different conclusions as to what constitutes marital property because they have different views as to the meaning of the term 'value.' This article represents a summary of some of our findings concerning the application of the premises and standards of value in divorce matters.
IP News
March 27, 2007
Highlights of the latest intellectual property news from around the country.
Trade Dress Limits On Copyright Licenses
March 27, 2007
The first federal case to consider directly the intersection of copyright and trade dress rights arose from a dispute over the use of revealing photographs of a young Marilyn Monroe on labels of red wine. The case, <i>Nova Wines, Inc. d/b/a/ Marilyn Wines v. Adler Fels Winery LLC</i>, out of the Northern District of California, was decided on a preliminary injunction motion and involved two commercial wine merchants intent on capitalizing on Monroe's enduring marketability.
