George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School

New CPIP Policy Brief: The Long Shadow of the Blackberry Shutdown That Wasn’t

CPIP logoCPIP has published a new policy brief by CPIP Senior Fellow for Innovation Policy Jonathan Barnett entitled The Long Shadow of the Blackberry Shutdown That Wasn’t. The policy brief looks at how the Blackberry litigation and the “patent troll” narrative ultimately contributed to the Supreme Court’s 2006 decision in eBay v. Read more

(Patented) Life Begins at Forty: CPIP Celebrates the Ongoing Legacy of Diamond v. Chakrabarty

The following post comes from Colin Kreutzer, a rising 2E at Scalia Law and a Research Assistant at CPIP.

gloved hand assembling or dissembling a model of DNABy Colin Kreutzer

It’s been forty years since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of patentability for a GE scientist and the oil-eating bacterium he’d created, greatly expanding the scope of living matter that was eligible to be patented. Read more

Recent Developments in the Life Sciences: The Continuing Assault on Innovation by Antitrust Plaintiffs in Lantus

By Erika Lietzan

dictionary entry for the word "innovate"In February, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held, in a direct purchaser antitrust action, that an innovative pharmaceutical company marketing an injectable drug product had “improperly listed” in FDA’s Orange Book a patent claiming a mechanism used in the drug’s delivery device. Read more

“No Combination Drug Patents Act” Stalls, but Threats to Innovation Remain

superimposed images from a chemistry labBy Kevin Madigan & Sean O’Connor

This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee was to mark up a bill limiting patent eligibility for combination drug patents—new forms, uses, and administrations of FDA approved medicines. While the impetus was to curb so-called “evergreening” of drug patents, the effect would have been to stifle life-saving therapeutic innovations. Read more

Unverified Theory Continues to Inform FTC’s Policies Toward Patent Owners

dictionary entry for the word "innovate"The Federal Trade Commission’s unfair competition case against Qualcomm, Inc., has now concluded. The parties gave their closing arguments on Tuesday, January 29, and all that remains is Judge Lucy Koh’s ruling. To prevail, the FTC needed to demonstrate actual, quantifiable harm. Read more

Qualcomm Founder Dr. Irwin M. Jacobs Delights Attendees at CPIP’s Sixth Annual Fall Conference

2018 Fall Conference flyerBy Kathleen Wills*

On October 11-12, 2018, the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP) hosted its Sixth Annual Fall Conference at Antonin Scalia Law School in Arlington, Virginia. The theme of the conference was IP for the Next Generation of Technology, and it featured a number of panel discussions and presentations on how IP rights and institutions can foster the next great technological advances. Read more

Rep. Massie Introduces New Legislation to Restore America’s Patent System

dictionary entry for the word "legislation"Yesterday, Representative Thomas Massie introduced the Restoring America’s Leadership in Innovation Act of 2018 (H.R. 6264). This legislation would reverse many of the harms that have been caused by recent changes to the patent laws from all three branches of government.  Read more

CPIP Scholars Examine the Flaws in the Term “Evergreening”

scientist looking through a microscopeIn their new paper, Evergreening of Pharmaceutical Exclusivity: Sorting Fact from Misunderstanding and Fiction, Professors Kristina Acri née Lybecker and Mark Schultz, along with CPIP John F. Witherspoon Legal Fellow David Lund, analyze how the term “evergreening” is used in the context of pharmaceuticals. Read more

The STRONGER Patents Act: The House Receives Its Own Legislation to Protect Our Innovation Economy

U.S. Capitol buildingToday, Representatives Steve Stivers (R-OH) and Bill Foster (D-IL) introduced the Support Technology & Research for Our Nation’s Growth and Economic Resilience (STRONGER) Patents Act of 2018. This important piece of legislation will protect our innovation economy by restoring stable and effective property rights for inventors. Read more

Innovate4Health: Indian Startup Develops Nanomaterial Filter to Help Solve Global Drinking Water Crisis

This post is one of a series in the #Innovate4Health policy research initiative.

Innovate4HealthBy Gleb Savich

Access to clean water remains a critical issue on a global scale. According to the latest statistics by the World Health Organization (WHO), 844 million people lack a basic drinking water service and at least 2 billion people use contaminated water that can transmit cholera, dysentery, typhoid, polio, and other diseases. Read more