Margaret Hamburg, President Obama’s selection to head the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”) is scheduled to face senators today as they consider her nomination.
Hamburg is a physician and a bioterrorism expert who has served as Commissioner for Health of New York City.
The Senate is expected to grill Hamburg in light of some notable FDA failures such as salmonella outbreak in peanut products early this year, tomatoes and peppers in 2008 and spinach in 2006.
There are some recent changes to CTM and UK trademark law.
For CTM applications filed after 10 March 2008, CTM searches will be optional. The CTM Register report will continue to be issued for all applications filed after 10 March 2008; however, separate individual searches will only be conducted and provided on request. CTM applicants should note that the request for national searches must be made at the time the application is filed. Applicants will not be able to request searches at a later time. Moreover, the CTM Office will charge a separate fee for the searches (the amount has not yet been determined).
Finally, applicants should note that the option for national searches is “all or nothing”. An applicant elects to receive searches from all 17 countries who currently provide search reports or none. Applicants may not cherry-pick certain countries for which they would like to receive reports.
New rules at the UK Patent Office too: In October 2007, the UK Intellectual Property Office stopped examining (and refusing) new applications on relative grounds (i.e., the existence of earlier registrations or applications). Accordingly, prior U.K., CTM and IR registrations will no longer prevent new UK applications from maturing to registration. While the IPO continues to conduct searches, it simply informs the applicant of any potentially conflicting mark. The IPO automatically informs only the owners of prior U.K. and IR registrations of the new applications. It does not automatically inform owners of earlier CTM registrations. However, owners of CTM registrations may opt-in for notification.
* Thanks to my friends at Graham Watt & Co. for this news.
Yesterday, the FDA ordered Procter & Gamble to stop advertising that its Vicks foaming sanitizer for hands (product here) prevents the spread of viruses (that cause colds.
The FDA is reviewing health claims for over-the-counter antiseptics made by P& G, Johnson & Johnson and other companies. While the active ingredient in the Vicks product, triclosan, is covered under FDA. regulations for certain antiseptic uses, that does not include P& G’s directions that users should leave the sanitizer on their hands, without rinsing with water, according to the letter.
“We believe we’re within the FDA guidelines, and we’re going to work with the FDA to clear up any misunderstandings,” said David Bernens, a spokesman for P&G.
According to AG IP News, official sources in Gaza informed ag-IP-news Agency on Monday that filing of trademark applications, processing pending applications, issuing certificates of trademark registrations and any other related activities have all ceased at the Trademark Office in Gaza with effect from August 2007.
According to the sources, all employees at the Trademark Office were informally instructed not to show up for work.
Ag-IP-news Agency tried to contact the Ministry of National Economy for more information but without any success.
Federal health officials issued stern new warnings Friday for doctors to more carefully prescribe widely used anemia drugs that can increase the risk of death and other serious problems in patients with cancer and kidney disease.
The FDA’s press release can be viewed here.
At issue are drugs sold under the brand names Procrit, Epogen and Aranesp. These drugs are genetically engineered versions of a natural protein, erythropoietin, that increases the number of red blood cells.
It seems that the National Pork Board takes issue with a breast-feeding advocate’s use of the phrase the other white milk on t-shirts sold to raise awareness of breast-feeding. Of course, the National Pork Board has been using the slogan The Other White Meat for years.
You can read the cease and desist letter here.
Without commenting on the merits of the Pork Board’s claims, there is a truly inexplicable claim in the letter:
In addition, your use of this slogan also tarnishes the good reputation of the National Pork Board’s mark in light of your apparent attempt to promote the use of breastmilk beyond merely for infant consumption, such as with the following slogans on your website in close proximity to the slogan “The Other White Milk.” “Dairy Diva,” “Nursing, Nature’s Own Breast Enhancement,” “Eat at Mom’s, fast-fresh-from the breast,” and “My Milk is the Breast”.
“your apparent attempt to promote the use use of breastmilk beyond merely for infant consumption”…. Is the Pork Board serious? Even a quick 5-minute review of http://www.thelactivist.com reveals that the owner is simply promoting infant breast-feeding.
If you’re going to send a cease and desist letter – particularly one which has arguably valid legal foundations – don’t embarass yourself with silly claims like this.
Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk AS is suing the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Commissioner Jon Dudas (in his official capacity) claiming that the Patent Office has misinterpreted data, evidence and legislation.
The USPTO has twice rejected applications from Novo Nordisk for patents relating to its AERx inhaled insulin delivery system, claiming the product does not contribute anything new.
“It’s a peripheral patent in relation to AERx, but we think we have some genuine inventions here,” said Kjellberg, head of Novo Nordisk’s patent division.
Perrigo, maker of private label pain killer for the likes of Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, Kroger, Safeway, Dollar General, Sam’s Club and Costco, has announced a recall of 11 million bottles (383 batches) of its generic acetaminophen (generic Tylenol) because the pills may have been contanimated with metal fragments.
For the FDA’s list of batches that are being recalled, go here.
Today is mid-term election day in the United States. This should prove to be an interesting year.
On Friday, October 6, 2006, President Bush signed the Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006 into law (H.R. 683). The took effect immediately upon signing.
On a personal note, I am pleased to see this law come into being since I drafted the original complaint in Moseley v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc. (a division of Victoria’s Secret) on behalf of V Secret Catalogue. Though Victoria’s Secret won at the trial court level (on the dilution claim – not the trademark infringement claim), the Supreme Court ultimately upheld the appeals court’s reversal on the grounds that Victoria’s Secret failed to prove actual damages.
The new law puts the meaning back in the legal doctrine of dilution, reverses the Supreme Court’s requirement that a dilution plaintiff prove actual damages, embraces the legal theory put forth by Victoria’s Secret in its original complaint and, in the words of the bill’s sponsor, “clarifies a muddied legal landscape and enables the Federal Trademark Dilution Act to operate as Congress intended.”