PATNEWS: Y2K; stamps; GAO; biotech deals; help with Russian prior art
Gregory Aharonian
!19980202 Y2K; stamps; GAO; biotech deals; help with Russian prior art
Greg,
NPR's "Talk of the Nation" show starts Tuesday at 2pm EST and is
presented live in two 1-hour segments. Some stations only carry one
of the two hours. Apparently, tomorrow's "Patents & Small Inventor"
show is scheduled for the 2nd hour (i.e. starting at 3pm EST).
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Two San Francisco law firms - Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft, and Thelen
Marrin Johnson & Bridges, are setting up Year 2000 teams to help companies
with the legal and insurance aspects of Year 2000 problems. More info can
be found at the law section of
http://www.Year2000.com/y2klawcenter.html
One of the best recommendations I have seen is to shut down Wall Street
for the week before 1/1/2000, to give the financial industry time to cope
with the switchover. Why not give the entire planet a weeklong holiday to
contemplate the next millenium?
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The US Postal Service is getting ready to issue a series of stamps
celebrating the 1950's. 30 subjects in five categories are being
considered, and the public is being allowed to vote on their favorites.
One category is Science & Technology, and the six technology events that
the Post Office has nominated are:
- Victory over polio
- Computers for business
- Commercial jet aircraft
- Transistor radio created
- US launches satellites
- Advances in surgery (heart-lung, kidney)
Interesting choices. Anyways, voting forms are available at your local
post office (you have to pay for the stamp to send in the form).
You get to vote for three. My choice is polio, jet, radio.
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This week's Government Computer News reports that the Government
Printing Office is encouraging US government agencies to enter into
agreements with federal depository libraries (a parallel system to the
US patent and trademark depository libraries), that would give the
public access to more documents through library World Wide Web sites.
"What we are trying to do is have the agencies make their documents
electronically available to federal depository libraries pernamently
through third parties such as universities", said Gil Baldwin, chief
of GPO's Library Division and Library Programs Service.
Whine. Whine. Tirade. Tirade. Lambast. Lambast. Insult. Insult.
[i.e. substitute my usual litany from prior postings.] All text data
the PTO has on issued patents and trademarks should be on the Internet
NOW. And lawyers should be in the forefront of efforts to get the PTO
to do so. If nothing else, doing so will get me to partially shutup.
Isn't that worth it?
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Some biotech deals reported in the latest Genetic Engineering News.
Endorex (Chicago, US) and Elan (Dublin, Ireland) have formed a joint
venture regarding oral and mucosal prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines,
based on technology for which Endorex has an exclusive license from MIT.
Endorex will own 80.1% and Elan 19.9%, and Elan will invest $2 million.
Abgenix/Cell Genesys and Pfizer have signed a deal whereby Abgenix
will use its XenoMouse technology to generate fully human antibodies
for up to three undisclosed antigen targets. Abgenix will receive a
variety of payments (R&D, license, equity) of up to $30 million from
Pfizer, who will be handling marketing and manufacturing.
Cortech (Denver) and BioStar (Boulder) will merge, with Cortech
issuing 28,500,000 shares of its common stock for all BioStar equity.
Latest issue of Mass High Tech reports that Matritech (Cambridge, MA)
was recently granted its sixth patent on technology to detect the
presence of cancer-specific proteins expressed by tumor cells. Their
technology has been slow to catch on, with a depressed stock price, but
company officials are optimistic about future sales (this news being for
the stock pickers who get my patent news).
====================
A client of mine is interested in busting a patent dealing with
corneal rings (abstract follows). They have heard of Russian efforts
(maybe by a scientist named Blavatskaia) that pre-date the broad claims
by many years. My access to Russian-specific materials is limited, and
I hear that the Russian Patent Office or something similar in Moscow
has great access to such stuff. Anyone in the Moscow area willing to
provide some consulting services, please email me. Here's the patent
abstract:
5,466,260
Adjustable devices for corneal curvature adjustment
Original application filed Sept. 21, 1992
The intrastromal corneal ring (ICR) is adjustable in thickness and has
an elongated, flexible, preferably transparent or translucent body
which forms a circle. The ICR is of a size such that it can be
inserted into a human eye and is comprised of a material which is
compatible with human ocular tissue. The thickness of the ring can be
adjusted so that it is not necessary to stock a plurality of different
rings of different sizes to be used in connection with a method of
adjusting the shape of the cornea of the eye. A plurality of different
embodiments of ICRs are disclosed each of which are adjustable in
terms of their thickness. The thickness may be adjusted prior to the
insertion of the ICR into the cornea and may not be further adjustable
after insertion. However, in accordance with preferred embodiments the
ICR is inserted at a thickness which is believed to be proper and
may thereafter be further adjusted in order to precisely define the
desired thickness and thereby more precisely adjust the shape of
the cornea and focus the light entering the eye on the retina.
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Greg:
I have reported to you about the on-line application of patents in
Japan. While I was searching "ISDN" using Japanese Yahoo site, I
hit upon a web page of Japanese Patent Agency by sheer luck.
It seems that that the agency is handing out the necessary program
on CD-ROM for free(!) (only one copy per company, per law office,
or per individual.). You have to send in a signed/sealed request
form to obtain the CD-ROM, though, and send in the receipt form
promptly upon receiving the CD-ROM.
Also, I have found out that the access to the agency host computer
is done via PPP connection using ISDN at 64kbps, so you have to have
a PC capable of doing this. Very modern, isn't it?
The detail (in Japanese) is at
http://www.jpo-miti.go.jp/info/soft.htm
By the way, if you access the top level of this site, i.e.,
http://www.jpo-miti.go.jp/
you will get English page and English guidance. So, I have a feeling
that the description in the Japanese page above probably can be found
somewhere in an English page at the site, but I didn't have the time
to check it out.
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Gregory Aharonian
Internet Patent News Service