Lifetimes of patents

B. Formal requirements LIFETIME OF PATENTS OWNERSHIP OF PATENTS INFRINGEMENT OF A PATENT... 

Patents claiming specific catalysts and processes for thek use in each of the two reactions have been assigned to Japan Catalytic (45,47—49), Sohio (50), Toyo Soda (51), Rohm and Haas (52), Sumitomo (53), BASF (54), Mitsubishi Petrochemical (56,57), Celanese (55), and others. The catalysts used for these reactions remain based on bismuth molybdate for the first stage and molybdenum vanadium oxides for the second stage, but improvements in minor component composition and catalyst preparation have resulted in yields that can reach the 85—90% range and lifetimes of several years under optimum conditions. Since plants operate under more productive conditions than those optimum for yield and life, the economically most attractive yields and productive lifetimes maybe somewhat lower. 

The initial research effort may prove to be a broad spectmm of apphcations or solutions to the original problem that in turn provide any number of inventions. When efforts move toward reducing the invention to practice and refining the invention so that it proves to be commercially marketable, certain apphcations may prove to be unfeasible or commercially impractical. As a result, only one apphcation, eg, the creation of a given pattern on the surface of the automobile tire, may ultimately prove commercially marketable. However, ah the solutions which are developed and considered over the research and development process may comprise inventions that are worthy of disclosure and claiming in a patent. An apphcation which is not commercially viable today may become viable within the seventeen-year lifetime of a patent. 

Fluorescent labels based on oxo-squaraines were described in numerous articles and patents [45, 52]. Mono-reactive hydrophobic (32a) and hydrophilic (32b) squaraine labels containing one NHS ester group were synthesized by Terpetschnig et al. [62]. The initially low quantum yields and short fluorescence lifetime of 32b in aqueous solutions significantly increase after covalent binding to proteins. 

A pharmaceutical company must be profitable to stay in business, and protecting its work through patents is part of the process. When a compound is protected by a patent, the patent holder may legally exclude others from using that compound for the lifetime of the patent. Patents on compounds are generally filed early in the lead optimization stage. 

In consequence, the start of commercial production can be greatly speeded up, in some cases even by several years. Time to market will be shortened and the patent lifetime of the drag will be much more effectively utilized (read utilized longer). 

The patent in question covers a class of biocides that are being marketed by Company A. Company B approaches Company A, the owner of the patent, in order to seek a licence to make and sell a compound, the structure of which is dominated by this patent. The decision to grant a licence is a purely commercial one. In this case the financial benefits to Company A are seen to outweigh the disadvantages. A licence is granted to Company B in return for 5% of the net sales income for the remaining lifetime of the patent. 

The major efforts to increase Tg include two noteworthy innovative approaches (i) Synthesis of starburst molecules, suitable for HTLs, whose patently nonplanar structure inhibits recrystallization,71 and (ii) synthesis of novel molecules in which familiar luminescent molecules are synthesized around a spiro-bifluorene core.70 As shown by Spreitzer et al.,70 Tg of these spiro derivatives, such as spiro-DPVBi, is considerably higher than that of the parent molecules, yet their PL and EL spectra are essentially identical. As expected, the lifetime of the OLEDs fabricated from the spiro derivatives is considerably higher than that of the parent-compound-based devices, both at room and at elevated temperatures. 

Optimal routes are developed to manufacture inexpensive bulk drug substance or final product over the lifetime of a patent or longer. The development of these cost-effective routes can justify the expense of many years of work. Laboratory processes are developed and examined on scale, and they evolve into optimal routes that are cost-effective, rugged, and forgiving. The optimal routes are filed with the FDA but may not be disclosed elsewhere. 

Today, the lifetime of a patent is 20 years. According the TRIPS Agreement, patents must be granted in all fields of technology, although exceptions for certain public interests are allowed (Articles 27.2 and 27.3 and must be enforceable for at least 20 years (Article 33). 

Marketing costs were assumed to be higher in the early years of product life and low after patent expiration, but over the lifetime of the product they average 22.5 percent of total sales. 

Information concerning patent law and lifetime of latents for all countries throughout the world is given in he Manual for the Handling of Applications for Patents, designs and Trade Marks Throughout the World (Octroi- ureau Losen Stiger, Amsterdam, 2001). 

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