Never underestimate the importance of patenting
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
As the old adage goes, all good things must come to an end. And so, with some sadness, I report that this will be the final Intellectual Matters. In my...
Read More >>Extend patent protection to protect technologies
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
As I have mentioned in the past, for an invention to be patentable, it must be both novel and inventive; the invention must be new and have...
Read More >>The complicated debate over patenting DNA
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
Like air and water, DNA should not be patentable,” blared the March headline in a major Canadian newspaper. The article underneath this headline detailed an out-of-court settlement after the Children’s...
Read More >>Epidemics create quandries for drug companies
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
In the early 1980s, the world became aware of a viral disease that was causing a number of rare diseases among a variety of groups, including intravenous drug users, homosexual...
Read More >>Drug pricing can create an ethical conundrum
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
In my previous column, I wrote that inventors are generally free to exploit their invention as a result of the state-granted monopoly that patents guarantee. In the field of medicine,...
Read More >>Drug patents are vital but can be subject to abuse
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
As I have written in the past, a patent does not grant the right for an inventor to sell or make something. A common misconception is that once an inventor...
Read More >>Cutting-edge discoveries outstrip patent laws
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
Next year marks an important anniversary in chemical history. In 1916, Gilbert Lewis published his seminal paper on chemical bonding, “The Atom and the Molecule,” from which were born Lewis...
Read More >>Company trade secrets a high-stakes game
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
Espionage. Double agents. Betrayal. Theft. While I could be describing the latest James Bond film, these elements were all part of a trade secret lawsuit in the United States involving...
Read More >>Trade secrets can protect better than patents
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
I love sushi, especially when it comes with a large heap of wasabi. What, you may ask, does this have to do with chemistry? Well, not much actually, although I...
Read More >>I call the next chemistry professor to the stand
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
If I had to, I would estimate that more than 50 percent of all patent litigation in Canada involves chemical subject matter. That shouldn’t come as a shock; chemistry, after...
Read More >>With patents, the devil is always in the details
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
While I am sure he gave many memorable speeches, Bill Clinton’s most famous statement as president may actually be the following: “It depends upon what the meaning of the word...
Read More >>Don’t make patent promises that you can’t keep
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
Late in 2013, many Canadian news outlets blared a headline similar to the one reported on the CBC’s website, “Eli Lilly Files $500M NAFTA Suit Against Canada Over Drug Patents.”...
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