This U.S. Supreme Court patent decision today will be big news for those financing early-stage life sciences companies:
Merck v. Integra, 545 U. S. ___ (2005).
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court has set aside the Federal Circuit’s holding — finding that “the use of patented compounds in preclinical studies is protected [under 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(1)] as long as there is a reasonable basis for believing that the experiments will produce the types of information that are relevant” to FDA approval.
More broadly, the decision, which sets aside a prior Federal Circuit ruling, will come as no surprise to those who have read Lerner & Jaffe’s “Innovation and its Discontents”, where the authors convincingly argue that the patent specialists at the Federal Circuit have taken an overly patentholder-friendly view of intellectual property law.
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Paul Kerdrosky,
You know, you could really help me out by throwing twenty thousand dollars my way unconditionally. You’re a good man–a reasonable man, right? Someone not at all reckless.
Well, I’m sure a hand-out to some poor schmuck like me would help your reasonableness and fiscal conservatism shine.
With fantastically incredible sincerity,
- Steven
New York, NY
PS– My gmail address is “noethos.”
PPS– I offer this poem, which I title “Entitled” and dedicate to you, as a return favor
_Entitled_
new glasses a cold
day how sharp is
this life I pocket
quivering hands and hunch
forward a small death
to the wind all vitality is here is now I close
my eyes, see shapes they are
real aren’t they