Author
Xavier Pillai
Leydig Voit Mayer Ltd, Chicago, IL
xpillai@leydig.com
Presentation
257th ACS National Meeting – Orlando
Sunday, March 31, 2019, 2:00PM-3:30PM
Orange County Convention Center Room W308D
“Strengthening your future patent rights in light of recent Federal Circuit court and USPTO decisions”
Abstract
Chemical and pharmaceutical companies invest enormous amounts of money and inventor hours to discover and develop new materials such as drugs and processes for making them, as well as other inventions. Such companies also attempt to protect their inventions by securing patents. Success of these inventions in the marketplace depends on a number of factors, the foremost of which being the strength of the patents obtained to protect them. These patents are expected to protect the vast investment of money and time in creating these inventions, and the product market share, for the next nearly twenty years. However, competitors will try to undermine the value of the inventions by challenging the strength of the patents, including their validity and coverage by the patent claims of their own products, in a court of law. Recently, many seemingly strong and valuable patents have been invalidated or narrowly viewed and found not infringed. Recent court and Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions reinforce the axiom that every word that goes into describing the invention in a patent application must be chosen with extreme care.This session will provide insights into how to reduce the chances of losing in a battle against an infringer, including practical pointers on how to write winning patent applications.