New US patent law faces court review

The enforcement of recently-introduced legislation intended to reform the US patent and trademark system (Marketletter September 24) has been delayed by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The judicial stay was requested by UK-headquartered drug major GlaxoSmithKline, via its US unit SmithKline Beecham Corp, arguing that the new legal framework harms innovation in the pharmaceutical sector.

At stake is the issue of limiting to two the number of patent continuations for a product that can be issued by the Patent and Trademarks Office without the requirement for an applicant of providing a statement of justification. The temporary injunction means that the new rules, which were due to come into effect on November 5, are postponed at least until sometime next year. Both GSK, which will be pushing for a permanent extension of the Virginia court's ruling, as well as the PTO, which will be pressing for the judgement's reversal, are expected to engage in a series of legal maneuvers that seem likely to end up with a hearing at the US Supreme Court.

According to the Associated Press, the presiding judge in the federal court, Judge James Cacheris, had sided with the PTO in four previous cases where the agency's authority had been challenged. GSK's legal representative, John Desmarais, told Dow Jones newswires that "it's a good day for innovators because the new rules would have stifled innovation."