Provigil could conceivably face cheap generic competition within a few years if a key patent doesn't hold up.
Lipitor could see its sales almost entirely eroded by cheap generic knockoffs when a key patent expires four years from now.
In return, Apotex would launch a generic in 2011, eight months before a key patent actually expired but years after a generic might have become available.
In mid-December, the company was granted a new U.S. patent protecting key areas related to its laser pulse technology.
Marked by a patently obvious blue button, the new addition serves up relevant prior art results by using key phrases from a patent's text and putting them together in a search query.
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It gives Google a hardware platform and patent protection for key aspects of its Android operating system.
So contra the Economist, a key element of any serious patent reform agenda should be to decentralize authority over patent appeals.
It doesn't face patent expirations on key drugs for years (this is a result of the bad track record of Hassan's predecessors at inventing new medicines), and sugammadex, a new anesthesia drug that came from acquiring Organon, looks like a very important medicine.
The patent disputes have been key in spurring talks about Apple diversifying its suppliers.
The Quad is a once-a-day pill that aims to provide Gilead with a revenue stream that will last beyond the patent expiration of its key drug Viread and its current one-a-day, Atripla.
Tarek Fahmi, a long-time Silicon Valley patent attorney, sees two key factors at play.
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When a patent is filed, the key hurdles are novelty and obviousness: Does this idea really represent something new, and is it informed by a particular creativity?
Strategically focused patent portfolio development is a key process in protecting intellectual property and one that may enable a smaller player to have relatively large leverage in an industry, because it can obtain an asset of value to a competitor.
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Now, however, as these companies face a clear need to file more and file faster, they are additionally hard-pressed because they commonly rely on key business and engineering personnel to manage the patent process.
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The tablet market - just like the smartphone market - has been subject to intense patent wars, chiefly between Apple and its key challenger Samsung.
But the key is to, on two tracks, let the patent office make the investments they need to get the backlogs down and speed up their process.
In recent months, the U.S. Patent Office has put into motion proceedings that could lead key patents on embryonic stem cells to be struck down, meaning that companies that do research on the cells would not give up a share of future profits on their inventions.
Lilly's fall emphasizes a key weakness of many big pharmaceutical companies: The expiration of a major patent allows generic drugs to enter the market and usually eat away most of the branded drug's sales within two years.
In June, Motorola settled a patent dispute with BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. over key technology found in RIM's smartphones, with RIM agreeing to make a one-time payment and continuing royalties in exchange for a halt to the litigation.
With a fixation on patent strategies, American tech giants are in danger of underpreparing for future key markets.
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Exactly how much cost drug companies can wring out of their balance sheets as patents expire is one of the key questions facing the pharmaceutical industry as they head over what analysts are calling the patent cliff.
Recent lawsuits have driven up patent prices, but a ruling last month against one of Kodak's key innovations may cause uncertainty about its portfolio.
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