Q. What do these innovations have in common? – The Space Suit – Step-On Garbage Cans – The Bra – Random Radio Frequency – Kevlar ® – AZT – The Mars Rover A. They were all invented by women. We learned this from the awesome book Patently Female: From AZT to TV Dinners, Stories of Women …
THE HEALTHY DIVIDE BETWEEN INNOVATORS AND MANAGERS Karen James is one of those software developers: focused, methodical, binary. She is also inventive. She can envision a solution to a problem via lines of code. In the early 90’s Karen wrote a software application that medical staff could use to keep track of patients and manage …
Pharma Company Accused of Using Legal Tricks to Squash Generic Version Last October, we wrote about the tactics used by pharma company AbbVie to artificially extend its patents on its billion-dollar drug Humira. Now six groups are filing lawsuits against AbbVie for “anticompetitive conduct.” Humira is a rheumatoid-arthritis and gut-disorders drug that enjoys sales of …
The makers of the world’s biggest-selling drug cheat competitors and consumers as they extend their exclusive right to sell Humira. Humira is a rheumatoid-arthritis and gut-disorders drug that enjoys sales of around $18 billion a year. Last Tuesday, one of its patents was set to expire. When a drug’s patent expires, generic manufacturers are free …
The US Patent and Trademark Office gives inventors a sort of patenting grace period in the form of a provisional patent. Companies and inventors who think they can exploit this can end up burned. Protecting an innovation with a patent is an enduring American tradition dating back to the time of Thomas Jefferson. The patent …
Not all patents are created equal. If you browsed through the eight-million-plus patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) since 1836, you would find a surprising number of inventions that would not stand against infringement. Some patents are considered stronger than others. The difference lies not just in the usefulness of …