The New York-based drug giant filed a lawsuit last year in the U.S.District Court inDelaware, alleging both Cialis and Levitra infringe a recent Viagra "method-of-use" patent.
Critical mass seems to be growing for serious patent reform legislation in the U.S. At the CES Innovation Policy Summit, the best-attended session so far featured Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who is co-sponsoring a bill which would severely limit the ability of holding companies to use the patent system to extort settlements, especially in the highly-litigated information technology sector.
FORBES: At CES, Companies Large and Small Bash Broken Patent System
Last year, a U.S. firm was granted a patent for a traditional Indian home remedy - the use of turmeric as an antiseptic.
This comes despite positive earnings in June and the announcement that the company would soon unveil patent-pending wireless video streaming technology for consumer use.
Apple argued in September in the Hague court that Samsung infringed its patent on multi-touch function, which lets users use two fingers at one time on a touch screen.
FORBES: Apple Seems To Be Losing In The European Courts, Winning In The US
People are fine with it, because if companies instead use the patent system to shut out other start-ups, less innovation happens.
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In the last month, Kodak initiated lawsuits against Apple, HTC, and long-time nemesis Fujifilm for multiple patent violations related to the use of digital imaging technology in smartphones.
Shares in ailing 131-year-old camera maker Eastman Kodak spiked on Monday after the U.S. International Trade Commission announced it would review a patent-infringement claim against Apple and Research In Motion over the use of image preview technologies, patented by Kodak in 2001.
FORBES: Kodak Thrown A Lifeline: Federal Agency To Review Case Against Apple, RIM
Holders of SEPs are obliged to licence the patent's use to competitors in return for a fee on so-called fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (Frand) terms.
Google has struck back with claims that BT has infringed a method to allow PCs to use an internet-based telephone system based on a patent originally filed by Fujitsu.
Once a patent is registered as being standard-essential, the licence holder must allow any third-party to use the innovation and agree to a fee that is not excessive.
Another entrant, Jolla, says its 'Sailfish' platform is a second-generation operating system like BlackBerry's BB10 and is easy to use because it has a gesture-based user interface and is designed to avoid patent litigation.
Professor Venter said it is the only way drug companies are going to use genetic information to make medicines - to invest in the research they need the patent protection to ensure they recoup their money.
If EchoStar prevails, similarly-situated companies will have even less incentive to seek out deals with patent-holders, instead relying on the courts to carve out for them an extended period of unlicensed use with a bill that comes due years later assuming the patent holder can afford to litigate for years and in an amount almost certainly far below the actual benefit conferred.
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Since 2008, Spangenberg and his company TQP have launched suits against hundreds of firms, claiming that their use of a common cryptographic protocol in the HTTPS-encrypted portions of their web properties violates the patent invented by Jones and acquired by TQP in 2006.
FORBES: Meet The Texas Lawyer Suing Hundreds Of Companies For Using Basic Web Encryption
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