But Greenpeace in Germany, which triggered the case, argued it was unethical to issue a patent based on cells from a human embryo.
Kodak noted that the patent at issue involved a method for previewing images on a digital camera-enabled device.
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Patent law does not address this issue, yet on this point most scientists and economists can agree.
Of course, the loss of patent protection for Lipitor is one issue, and no one knows how well their pipeline drugs will be able to pick up the slack.
The number of patent applications where this ever becomes an issue is a tiny, tiny (did I mention TINY?) percentage.
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First, the legal issue: What is really protectable under the patent?
So assuming that Microsoft prevails here we will presumably see it taking the same issue to other jurisdictions where it has the same patent.
The U.S. Patent Office should only be able to issue patents on things that require some level of human manipulation to be useful, Ravicher says.
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The fact is, both are in the same boat when it comes to patent law, though admittedly the seed issue is more troubling at the gut level.
In my opinion, none of the suggestions offered at the conference would change the real problem, which is that the Patent Office examiners are too quick to issue software patents where the so-called invention is obvious to one skilled in the art.
Yes, Merck or Pfizer has honestly earned the government-issue, fixed-term monopoly that we call a patent.
The big issue is whether new products can make up for the patent expiration in two years of top-seller Zocor, a cholesterol drug.
The case hinges on whether judges should issue an injunction as a matter of course in cases of patent infringement.
Most importantly, the order said, examiners at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office determined that the information at issue was irrelevant to patentability, saying it dealt with tests of the median lethal dose of the drug, not the much lower doses used by consumers.
The issue is whether these deals, which the pharmaceutical industry prefers to call patent settlements, are anticompetitive.
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This is clearly a contentious issue in the tech world, and one that has many people pleading for patent reform.
In addition to patent trolls and privateers, the sheer volume of patents is another overwhelming issue.
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It is a material issue for IP-rich businesses such as ours, because calls for action against patent trolls are growing stronger in business and government circles.
Whether FRAND-encumbered patent holders should be able to seek injunctions is a critically important policy issue, and as a matter of policy a prohibition may make perfect sense.
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British Airways, which has a patent on the yin yang pattern, doesn't think direct aisle access is a major issue for most travelers, said Simon Talling-Smith, BA's executive vice president for the Americas.
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