Today GM still ranks as the top innovator among automotive and transportation companies, according to The PatentBoard, a consulting firm which analyzes and values patents.
None of these have been decided by the new Patent Trials and Appeals Board, but they will be interesting to watch to see to what degree they provide a thorough and fair way to litigate disputes of patent validity.
The German company last year approached the Intellectual Property Appellate Board after the local patent authority granted a "compulsory license" to Natco Pharma Ltd.
The appellate board, which is based in the southern city of Chennai, said the patent authority was right in allowing a compulsory license for Nexavar as Bayer hadn't priced the drug at "reasonably affordable" rates.