Healthy Skepticism Library item: 11830

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Glaxo sues to block new patent rules
Associated Press 2007 Oct 12
http://www.thesudburystar.com/PrintArticle.aspx?e=732359

Full text:

WASHINGTON —British pharmaceutical maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC has sued to block new patent rules that the company says will harm about 100 of its pending applications for new products.

The rules were issued in August by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and are scheduled to take effect Nov. 1. They are intended to streamline the application process by limiting the number of times patent applicants can change existing applications.

“These rules better focus examination and will bring closure to the examination process more quickly, while ensuring quality,” Jon Dudas, director of the PTO, said in August.

But Nancy Perkarek, a spokeswoman for Glaxo, said the measures would “stifle innovation because they would severely limit our ability to fully claim our inventions.”

Pharmaceutical companies frequently change the scope of the patents they seek as research and testing uncovers additional applications for a drug, John Desmarais, the comapny’s attorney, said.

Brigid Quinn, a spokeswoman for the patent office, would not comment on the suit, which was filed Oct. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, Va.

GlaxoSmithKline shares dropped 14 cents to $52.08 in after-hours trading, after falling 4 cents to finish at $52.22.