Court Case on Patent Delays Holds Appeal for Industry
October 2009
By: Jason M. Honeyman
MX: Issues Update
In certain business sectors, particularly the medical device, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology spaces, extending the term of a patent by a year or even by a few months can dramatically improve the bottom line. The term of a U.S patent is adjusted to compensate for certain delays by the Patent and Trademark Office during prosecution, but the PTO’s calculation methodology was found to be flawed in the recent case of Wyeth v. Dudas.
