Patent Found To Claim A Method Of Medical Treatment (Intellectual Property Weekly Abstracts Bulletin - 10/7/2013)

Edited by Chantal Saunders and Beverley Moore and Adrian Howard

Patents

Patent found to claim a method of medical treatment Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. v. Cobalt Pharmaceuticals Company, 2013 FC 985

The Federal Court has dismissed an application to prohibit the Minister of Health from issuing a Notice of Compliance to the Respondent Cobalt in respect of a drug containing zoledronic acid to be administered in once-yearly doses for the treatment of osteoporosis in humans. The Court determined that the discovery of an effective once-a-year dosing for postmenopausal osteoporosis was not obvious. However, the patent was found to be invalid for claiming a method of medical treatment. The Court held that the patent fell within the skill of a medical practitioner for claiming treatment using various dosage ranges and intermittent timing. Cobalt also asserted that the patent was ineligible for listing as it does not contain a "claim for the use of the medicinal ingredient" as required under the PM(NOC) Regulations. The Court held that there were use claims meeting the criteria for listing. Furthermore, it was considered to be improper to raise this issue at the hearing itself, rather than by way of a separate motion earlier in the proceeding. Cobalt knew the issues and should have addressed them sooner.

Trade-marks

The MEDOS trade-mark was expunged for non-use Medos Services Corporation v. Ridout and Maybee LLP, 2013 FC 1006

The trade-mark MEDOS has been expunged for non-use. Although new evidence was provided on appeal, it was not enough to show that the mark had been used within the three years in question. The telephone bills, correspondence, rental receipts and invoices were all alleged to show use, but the word MEDOS did not appear upon any of them. In some cases the evidence was found to be purely speculative.

Patent Appeal Board (PAB) decisions

Decision 1337

- Patent Application No. 2,285,834 The PAB described this application as a system for selectively interacting with postage meters has been found to be obvious in light of the prior art. An earlier rejection for not being statutory subject matter was not upheld, finding that the "method steps utilize technology, and are sequenced to achieve the practical result of selectively interacting with, and replenishing, postage meters from a central computer." Decision 1338 - Patent Application No. 2,304,195 The PAB described this application as a method for the analysis and...