Medtech industry benefits fromUSPTO change of heart on patent rules
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Last week the healthcare industry breathed a sigh of relief when the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), under its new head David Kappos, dropped its proposed patent rules limiting the number of times additional claims could be filed, which were designed to reduce the growing backlog of unexamined filings.The USPTO and the pharmaceutical company,GlaxoSmithKline, which started a lawsuit against the rules and achieved a last-minute stay of them becoming law in October 2007, together filed a joined motion to dismiss the court case.