Friday IP Round-Up
Patent Baristas:
Pfiscal Responsibility
Pfizer announced that it has posted a list of U.S. medical, scientific and patient organization grants and charitable contributions made in the first quarter of this year, part of an ongoing drive throughout the company to increase transparency.
Of a total $9.97 million in grants and charitable contributions reported for the first quarter of 2008, the largest grant - $3,420,318 - was made to the California Academy of Family Physicians in March for a three-year national health care professional education campaign to reduce the number of U.S. smokers. Detailed descriptions of the types of support provided are available here. (via World Pharma News)
In re Bilski
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in a 12-judge en banc hearing, asked for help in figuring out what to do with methods of doing business. Among the questions presented in In re Bilski, the court was asked: “What standard should govern in determining whether a process is patent-eligible subject matter under section 101?”
In the polarizing case, which covers a covers a method of managing risk in selling commodities, the court received 44 amicus briefs (see Patently-O blog for many of the documents) as various entities took sides on how to define the patentability of business methods after the State Street decision.
The patent office argued that the Bilski method is ineligible for patent protection because it fails to claim a machine and because it does not involve a physical transformation. Pointing out that a change in trajectory could constitute a physical transformation, Judge William Bryson asked “Is a curveball patentable?” (via Law.com) The court seemed to even question what it means to apply its own test for business method patentability (that the method produces a useful, concrete and tangible result).
Examining the Examiners
The new USPTO Examiners website (slogan: We Examine the Examiners) is a message…