Biotech and Pharmaceutical Companies Most Affected by Supreme Court's Festo Decision, Wolf Greenfield Attorneys Write.Business Editors & Legal Writers BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 1, 2002 The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Festo decision--a major patent-law case--will probably have a greater impact in the biotech bi·o·tech n. Informal Biotechnology. biotech Noun short for biotechnology Noun 1. and pharmaceutical industries than anywhere else, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. an article in the Sept. 12 issue of Pharmaceutical Law & Policy Report. "Biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are likely to be required to change their patent claims (which define what the patent covers) more frequently than in other technology areas. Since the Festo decision reduces the restrictive effect of such changes, the Festo decision may prove to have a particularly significant impact on these industries," write Matthew B. Lowrie Matthew B. Lowrie (1773 – July 28 1850), served as the Mayor of Pittsburgh from 1830 to 1831. Early life Lowrie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, from where he emigrated with his parents the U.S. state of to Pennsylvania. and Laura Topper Topper house he purchases is haunted by the young couple who owned it previously and their dog. [Am. Lit., Cin., TV: Topper in Halliwell, 718] See : Ghost Topper Hopalong Cassidy’s faithful horse. , lawyers with Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C., a top intellectual property law firm. Biotech and drug companies are particularly dependent on patents to protect their massive investments in new products, but their patents are litigated more often than patents in other industries, they point out. The Festo decision, which broadened the scope of patent protection available in most cases, requires companies to reexamine re·ex·am·ine also re-ex·am·ine tr.v. re·ex·am·ined, re·ex·am·in·ing, re·ex·am·ines 1. To examine again or anew; review. 2. Law To question (a witness) again after cross-examination. their patent strategies, says the article, "Recent Supreme Court Ruling May Expand Patent Coverage and Create Uncertainty." "For those contemplating filing a lawsuit and those trying to avoid one, the Festo decision creates new opportunities and new uncertainties," Lowrie and Topper write. "The patent litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. process, which has always been long, costly, and uncertain, will become even more so, as courts and patent litigators grapple with the Supreme Court's new standard. The value of securing and maintaining patents has gone up." Boston-based Wolf Greenfield (www.wolfgreenfield.com) is one of the most experienced law firms This list of the world's largest law firms by revenue is taken from The Lawyer and The American Lawyer and is ordered by 2006 revenue:[1]
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