Science and society

The Patent Chronicle

April 25, 2017

India sees high patent growth

Source: India Innovation Trend Report from Clarivate Analytics, a leader in Patent Analytics reports that India scored the highest growth of 26 percent in terms of published patents amongst the countries analyzed. These include China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Reason: Clarivate identified the following main reasons

Government initiatives;
Increasing number of R&D centers being opened by MNCs as well as Indian corporations; and
Indian companies realizing the importance of patent protection in different geographies.

Impact: Polymers and plastics, computing, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications accounted for two-thirds of the published patents indicative of strength in these areas. Encouraging signs are present that the trend will continue and make India competitive in the global market.

Dow wins huge infringement suit against Nova

Decision: A Canadian court ruled that Nova Chemical Corp. has to pay Dow Chemical Co. all the profits it earned by infringing on Dow’s Canadian patent on garbage bags and packaging materials. The ruling judge also came up with a formula that will guide the accountants at Dow and Nova how to determine the Nova’s profits from selling the infringing products.

Reason: Nova sold products for a long time that was covered by Dow’s patent claiming that their method is based on another polymer and did not infringe Dow’s methods patent. The litigation dragged on for several years, during which Nova made substantial profits.

Impact: This is the first time “springboard” damages have been awarded by a Canadian court on infringement. “Springboard” damages are assessed from actual accounted profits made by the infringer during the period of infringement. Backed by the verdict, Nova will pay Dow a substantial amount, which by some accounts is close to a billion dollars. Nova will stop making and selling packaging materials with their SURPASS polymer.

Dow Chemical could collect largest patent infringement damage award in Canadian history https://t.co/vkAsxfooUB via @legalpost

— Thomson Reuters Legal Canada (@TRCanadaLegal) April 24, 2017

Snap buys an app patent for $7.7 million

Decision: Snap of Snapchat fame buys a geofilter app from Mobli for the huge sum.

Reason: Snapchat wanted to keep Facebook away from acquiring the patent. $360 million out of Snap’s $400 million profit was made from geofilters. Had FB acquired the patent, it would have wiped out Snap’s profits from geofilters.

Impact: Geofilters are location-speific photofilters that can be used for advertising. Snap did not have a geofilter app in their collection. Therefore, this becomes a sensible acquisition for Snap. This deal also sets a new trend for software app market wars between the giants in social media, $7.7 million being the highest sum paid for an Israeli firm for a software app. Mobli was lagging behind its competitor, Instagram. This comes as a decent win for Mobli.

https://twitter.com/startupcrunch/status/855168001137455104

Sanofi and Regeneron faces infringement over their Atopic Dermatitis drug

Decision: Amgen sued Sanofi and Regeneron for infringement over their Atopic Dermatitis (AD) drug Dupilumab (Dupixent),

Reason: Amgen’s subsidiary Immunex has a patent protecting the development of IL4-receptor antibodies. Amgen believes that Dupilumab, a monoclonal human antibody against IL4 and IL3 receptors, infringes the Immunex patent.

Impact: Dupilumab is a rapidly evolving blockbuster for Sanofi and Regeneron that was approved by FDA recently. It had showed efficacy against AD and holds a lot of promise for asthma and other diseases based on the biological mechanism it targets. If they lose, it will be a big loss for Sanofi and Regeneron, as some of their trials for other indications center around Dupilumab. Sweeping claims covering broad biological mechanisms are however difficult to litigate and win in courts. Therefore, it remains to be seen is Amgen’s contention will find support in the court.

Amgen Takes Aim at Sanofi and Regeneron Blockbuster Dupilumab:https://t.co/govmtFllW6 pic.twitter.com/uERQFmfj1j

— HCPLive (@MDMagazine) April 24, 2017

Bellus Health’s patent for Chronic Cough lead compound

Decision: USPTO grants Bellus Health a patent for their lead compound for treating chronic cough.

Reason: BLU-5937 was deemed novel and useful by the patent office. Compound BLU-5937, related imidazopyridine compounds, and pharmaceutical compositions containing these compounds are covered by the patent. They are potent, and selective antagonists of P2X3 receptors located on airway sensory neurons that are hypersensitized in chronic cough.

Impact: Bellus Health is a company focused on developing treatments for diseases with high unmet medical needs. With this win, Bellus Health could attract the resources needed to develop the lead molecule into a drug. Bellus holds the license to develop BLU-5937 from NEOMED who had it assigned to them from AstraZeneca. The P2X3 antagonist program was initiated by AstraZeneca scientists in Montreal.