Academic literature on the topic 'Cross-Licensing Agreements (Patent Pools)'

Abstract Governmental and particularly private funding has recently and dramatically expanded for both beccs and dac technologies. This funding and the associated research, development, and deployment efforts will generate intellectual property rights, particularly patent rights in nets. As with access to medicines, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted concerns that patent rights may incentivize RD&D at the cost of affordable access to the relevant technologies. Further, access may be restricted to particular countries based on sovereignty concerns to seek preferential supply agreements through up-front funding. As a result, nations will likely turn to controversial ex-post measures, such as compulsory licensing, to assure access and to control prices of the needed technologies. The same concerns with patent rights likely will affect RD&D of nets. Although international ex-ante measures exist (such as patent pools) which would help to minimize these concerns, such measures may not induce the requisite voluntary contributions, or may fail to materialize due to political disagreements. Focusing on both US law and international developments, this article proposes various ex-ante measures that can be adopted by national governments and private funders to minimize the likely forthcoming worldwide conflicts that will arise over balancing innovation incentives for, and affordable access to, patented nets.

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into stark relief the gaps in global preparedness to address widespread outbreaks of deadly viral infections. This article proposes legal mechanisms for addressing critical issues facing the international community in terms of providing equitable access to vaccines, treatments, diagnostics, and medical equipment. On the supply side, the authors propose the establishment of mandatory patent pools (‘Licensing Facilities’) on a global or regional, or even national basis, depending upon the degree of cooperation that may be achieved. The authors also discuss the importance of creating shared production facilities. On the demand side, the authors propose the establishment of Regional Pharmaceutical Supply Centers (RPSCs) for the collective procurement of products, and the need to coordinate the issuance of necessary compulsory licenses for production and/or importation, depending on relevant circumstances. The authors envisage that centralized coordination by RPSCs should assist in overcoming difficulties individual countries may encounter in addressing administrative and technical issues in procuring supplies, as well as creating improved bargaining leverage with potential suppliers. The authors finally address the problem created by the decision of various high-income countries to ‘opt out’ as eligible importing countries under the World Trade Organization TRIPS Agreement Article 31bis amendment that addresses the predominant export of pharmaceutical products under compulsory licenses.

Abstract This article provides an overview and discussion of a multitude of issues that are relevant for IP licensing under Japanese law. The authors recap the results of the legislative process that predominantly addressed the IP licensee’s position in the case of a licensor's insolvency, including the 2020 amendment to the Japanese Copyright Act, and examine whether a comprehensive reform of IP licensing regulations in Japan would be preferable to also offering better protection to trademarks, trade secrets and data licensees. Given that Japanese companies often agree on jointly owning IP generated in the process of software development and other co-development projects, we analyze the risks of joint ownership compared to non-exclusive licenses. To further illustrate such risks that may be even more significant in cross-border constellations, we conduct a comparative study on the actions that a party commissioning the development of new software can take without obtaining the software developer’s consent under Japanese, US and German patent and copyright law. Furthermore, we examine certain unresolved issues that may arise in the case of a party’s insolvency or the impact of force majeure events, and provide suggestions on how to address these when drafting and negotiating IP license agreements.

The article analyzes the current scientific work related to the study of processes of chronic heart failure (CHF), and the use of biomarkers in the diagnosis of heart disease in dogs. Thoracic radiography, electrocardiography, and echocardiography are used to diagnose heart disease in dogs but despite the use of non–invasive methods, there is uncertainty about the severity of the disease and prognosis for each patient individually. In veterinary practice for the diagnosis of myocardial lesions in animals are clinically valuable, highly sensitive and simple to use cardiac biomarkers. A biomarker is typically a substance in the blood that can be objectively measured and indicates a biologic or pathologic process or response to therapy.1 There are scores of cardiac biomarkers,but this article will focus on the 2 most clinically useful ones in the dog and cat:cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and N–terminal pro–B–type natriuretic peptide (NT–proBNP). The cardiac troponins I, T, and C (cTnI, cTnT, and cTnC) are thin filament–associated regulatory proteins of the heart muscle. Cardiac troponin I («I» for inhibition) is uniquely expressed in the myocardium and is a potent inhibitor of the process of actin–myosin cross–bridge formation. The molecular weight is 24.000 D. Cardiac troponin T («T» for tropomyosin binding) has a molecular weight of 37.000 D and binds the troponin complex to tropomyosin. Cardiac troponin C («C» for calcium) binds to calcium and starts, therefore, the crossbridge cycle. As with cTnI, approximately 95% of cTnT in man and dogs is myofibril bound and about 5% is cytosolically dissolved. Mechanisms for an elevation in circulating cardiac troponins include an increase of myocyte membrane permeability (initial release of the cytosolic troponin pool) or cell necrosis (release of myofibrilbound troponins). Four to six hours after acute myocardial cell injury, the cardiac troponin concentration in blood increases in a biphasic pattern. Plasma half–life of cardiac troponins is approximately two hours, and elimination mainly occurs via the reticuloendothelial system (cTnI and cTnT) and renal loss (cTnT). Cardiac troponins are phylogenetically highly preserved proteins with a more than 95% total structural agreement between mammals. Therefore, established human serologic tests for troponin analysis may be used reliably in pets as well. Myocardial cell injury, manifested anatomically as inflammation (endomyocarditis, myocarditis, perimyocarditis), acute degeneration, apoptosis, or necrosis or hemodynamically as transient or permanent cardiac contractile dysfunction, is a frequent consequence of physical myocardial trauma (cardiac contusion), cardiomyopathy, metabolic or toxic myocardial damage (anthracyclines, catecholamines, bacterial endotoxins, tumor necrosis factor), myocardial ischemia or infarction. However, early diagnosis of myocardial injury may be important from a therapeutic and prognostic perspective.

Mixed phenotype acute leukemia (MPAL) is a heterogeneous disease consisting of acute leukemia expressing markers of both myeloid and lymphoid lineage. The role of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT) remains uncertain due to lack of prospective trials . Several studies have retrospectively examined its role in pediatric and younger adult subgroups. Myeloablative conditioning (MAC) can result in an overall survival (OS) of 56% at 3 years, but is not suitable for older and frail patients. With expanding transplant availability and alternative donors, we sought to evaluate the outcomes of our cohort of MPAL patients, including older adults unfit for MAC, in a heterogeneous, real-world scenario compared with the outcomes of patients who were consolidated with chemotherapy only. Methods: Seventy four patients, aged 18 years or older, at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2018 were evaluated. All patients included in analysis met the WHO 2016 classification criteria for MPAL. Overall survival and relapse free survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier product-limit method. The log-rank test was used to compare the two groups with respect to OS and relapse free survival. Results: Baseline characteristics of the patient cohorts are shown in Table 1. Among the 74 MPAL patients included in this study, 59 (79%) received induction chemotherapy. Complete remission (CR) was achieved in 47 (79%) treated patients. Twenty-five of 36(80%) achieved a CR using ALL protocols (DFCI Protocol, Hyper-CVAD), while 9 of 23 (39%) achieved a CR using AML protocols (3+7, FLAG-Ida). Consolidation treatment post CR was evenly split, with 24(51%) receiving chemotherapy followed by an alloHSCT and 23 (49%) receiving chemotherapy only. In the alloHSCT group, RIC was used in 20 (81%) patients while MAC was used in four younger patients with a median age of 51 and 30 respectively. Donor types included sixteen matched unrelated donors, five sibling donors, two haploidentical donors, and one double umbilical cord. The median age of the transplant cohort was 50 years with a median OS of 21 months. In the chemotherapy only group, the median age was 57 with a median OS of 18 months. ALL-type treatment was used for consolidation in 74% of patients with 83% using the asparaginase-containing DFCI protocol. Univariate analysis demonstrated no difference in outcomes with several parameters including age, induction chemotherapy, donor source, and conditioning intensity. The sole predictor of poor OS on univariate analysis was acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD) with a hazard ratio of 3.3 (95% CI 0.9-11). In total, 12 patients (50%) had aGVHD with a median OS of 16 months. However, when Grade 1/2 and Grade 3/4 aGVHD were compared, median OS was not reached in patients with G1/2, compared with an OS of 11 months in those patients with G3/4 aGVHD. Chronic GVHD was present in 6 patients and did not impact OS (HR 0.9892 CI 95% 0.2-2.9). Post-transplant relapses occurred solely in the RIC group and were early, occurring within a median of 124 days (range 87-188). Although, there was no relapses in the MAC group, the non-relapse mortality (NRM) was 75%, with patients dying from either aGVHD or infection. The NRM in the RIC group was 17.65%. The 3 year OS and relapse free survival (RFS) for the entire cohort were 30% and 32%, respectively. When comparing those patients that had undergone alloSCT and those that who received chemo alone, survival in the two groups were similar with a 1 year OS of 75% vs. 68% and a 3 year OS of 29% vs 32%, respectively (Figure 1). The 3 year RFS was also similar at 29% and 34%, respectively. Subgroup analysis between the two groups was performed for patients with specific poor prognostic factors (older age, complex cytogenetics, higher WCC, conditioning regimen used), but results showed no significant survival differences. Conclusions Older patients with MPAL have an inferior prognosis and worse outcomes with alloHSCT compared with those of younger adults or children. Despite the increase in access to alloHSCT and an expanding pool of alternative donors, outcomes with RIC remain similar to consolidation with chemotherapy alone. There may be some evidence to suggest that the graft versus leukemia effect can be harnessed to improve outcomes in selected patients. Further research towards optimizing patient outcomes is clearly required to address the needs of older patients unfit for MAC. Disclosures Gupta: Sierra Oncology: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Incyte: Honoraria, Research Funding. Mattsson:Gilead: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; Therakos: Honoraria. Maze:Pfizer Inc: Consultancy; Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Michelis:CSL Behring: Other: Financial Support. McNamara:Novartis Pharmaceutical Canada Inc.: Consultancy. Schimmer:Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Otsuka Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Medivir Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy. Schuh:Teva Canada Innovation: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Agios: Honoraria; AbbVie: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Astellas: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Jazz: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Teva Canada Innovation: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Yee:Astex: Research Funding; MedImmune: Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Hoffman La Roche: Research Funding; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Millennium: Research Funding; Astellas: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Merck: Research Funding. Minden:Trillium Therapetuics: Other: licensing agreement.

Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (2001) recognized the difficulty of some WTO member states in using the compulsory licensing flexibility allowed in the TRIPS Agreement due to their lack of local pharmaceutical manufacturing capacities. However, there has been almost no implementation by countries of the subsequent WTO General Council decision of 30th August, 2003 which was designed to resolve this Paragraph 6 issue. This is due to the existence of various impediments – generally in the form of external and internal barriers. A comparative analysis is undertaken of the implementation of the Council Decision in two countries with varying levels of development and with different obligations with regards to enforcement of the TRIPS Agreement. It is shown that external barriers such as proliferation of bilateral agreements have more impeding effect on developing countries such as South Africa which are already part of the full TRIPS compliance regime. Conversely, internal barriers such as institutional and structural drawbacks have more of an impact in Least Developing Countries (LDCs) such as Bangladesh which have been given a transition period for TRIPS compliance and are not yet fully susceptible to external pressures of the international trade regime. The increased preference of countries to use alternative innovative mechanisms such as the Medicines Patent Pool to improve access to medicine outside the framework of the global IP/Trade regime reiterates the unworkability of the Council Decision in promoting access to medicines.

Embora os direitos de Propriedade Intelectual (PI) sejam supostamente instituídos de forma a fomentar a inovação e o bem-estar em longo prazo, seu uso pode ensejar comportamentos oportunistas e abusivos como os Artigos 8.2 e 40 do TRIPS expressamente admitem. Sempre que tal tipo de comportamento afetar a concorrência em determinado mercado excluindo concorrentes, impondo barreiras à entrada, prejudicando consumidores por meio de aumento de preços ou redução da oferta o Direito de Concorrência será chamado a intervir. Considerando tais questões, o objetivo desse trabalho é identificar um quadro de trabalho brasileiro para tratar de questões envolvendo questões de Direito de Concorrência relacionadas à Propriedade Intelectual. O autor buscou delinear os conceitos de uso abusivo de direitos de Propriedade Intelectual, Dominação de Mercado por meio de uso da Propriedade Intelectual e de abuso de posição dominante, considerando o novo quadro regulatório introduzido pela Lei 12.259/2001.
While intellectual property (IP) rights are usually claimed to be designed to foster innovation and welfare in the long run, their use may give rise to opportunistic, abusive behavior - as Articles 8.2 and 40 of TRIPS openly admit. Whenever such sort of behavior affects competition in a given market - whether by dislodging competitors, imposing barriers to entry, harming costumers, raising prices or reducing output - competition law is called to intervene. Considering these issues, the purpose of this paper is to identify a Brazilian legal framework for dealing with IP related competition issues. The author sought to draw the legal concepts of abusive of IP rights, market domination and abuse of dominant position considering the new regulatory framework introduced by Law 12.259/2011.

This chapter examines some of the different types of intellectual property rights (IPRs) before outlining the relationship between intellectual property and both EU competition law and the EU free movement rules. It focuses, however, on IP licensing agreements and their treatment under Article 101. The chapter traces the development of EU competition policy to IP licensing agreements and examine the current Technology Transfer Block Exemption and the Guidelines in detail. It also examines patent settlement agreements (including pay for delay agreements), patnet pools, trade mark licences, trade mark delimitation agreements, and copyright (other than software) licences not covered by the TTBER and Guidelines.