1. AstraZeneca Wins Ruling Upholding Patent on Seroquel (Update2)
By Susan Decker and William McQuillen

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- AstraZeneca Plc won an appeals court ruling that will prevent Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Novartis AG’s Sandoz unit from selling a copy of its second-biggest drug, antipsychotic Seroquel, until March 2012.

An appeals court in Washington today upheld the enforceability of a patent on the compound quetiapine fumarate, the active ingredient in the drug.

Seroquel generated $2.37 billion in sales in the first half of this year for London-based AstraZeneca. In the U.S., first- half sales were $1.68 billion, up 18 percent from the year- earlier period, the company said July 30. The ulcer treatment Nexium is its top-seller.

Teva, the world’s biggest generic-drugmaker and Sandoz, the second-biggest, conceded that a patent on Seroquel is valid and that their products would infringe it. The onl　y remaining issue in the case was a claim that AstraZeneca withheld key information from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office so it could obtain the patent.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today said that U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano in Trenton, New Jersey, was correct to find that there was no deception. The information wasn’t that important and it wasn’t intentionally withheld to dupe the patent office, the appeals court said.

‘Intent to Deceive’

The generic-drug makers “have not provided evidence sufficient to establish the threshold facts of material withholding with the intent to deceive,” the three-judge panel in Washington ruled.

Seroquel competes with other antipsychotic medicines including Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s Abilify. Antipsychotics topped U.S. drug sales for the first time last year, with $14.6 billion in annual revenue, according to IMS Health Inc.

AstraZeneca American depositary receipts, each representing one　 ordinary share, fell 15 cents to $43.91 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Novartis ADRs, each representing one　 ordinary share, rose 9 cents to $48.86. Teva ADRs, each representing one　 ordinary share, rose 22 cents to $50.97 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.

The case is AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., 2008-1480 and 2008-1481, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The lower court case is AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., 05cv5333, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey (Trenton).

To contact the reporter on this story: William McQuillen in Washington at bmcquillen@bloomberg.net; Susan Decker in Washington at sdecker1@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: September 25, 2009 16:25 EDT

2. Friday, September 25, 2009, 2:24pm CDT
Western Union wins patent case against MoneyGram
Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal - by Denver Business Journal

A Texas jury on Thursday ordered a subsidiary of MoneyGram International Inc. to pay $16.5 million to Western Union for patent infringement.

Englewood, Colo.-based payments company Western Union (NYSE: WU) filed the lawsuit in 2007, alleging that MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc.’s FormFree system infringed upon Western Union’s Money Transfer by Phone patents. Both systems involve staging money transfers through a call center and completing transactions at an agent location.

St. Louis Park-based MoneyGram (NYSE: MGI) said Friday that it is weighing its legal options, including a possible appeal.

“Clearly, we are disappointed with the jury’s verdict," MoneyGram Vice President and Associate General Counsel Carolyn Eshleman said in a statement. "We are eval　uating the decision, determining next steps required, and reviewing our legal options, including post-verdict motions and appeals."

The case was tried in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in Austin, Texas.

Denver Business Journal is a sister publication of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.

3. [September 25, 2009]

Mosaid Technologies eyeing Nortel's patents from the more obscure to well-known

(Canadian Press DataFile Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) MONTREAL _ From Nortel Network's more obscure patents to its high-profile wireless network patents, Mosaid Technologies Inc. (TSX:MSD) is eyeing them all and looking for licensing opportunities, says CEO John Lindgren.

"We'd be very interested in mining the whole portfolio and taking a look at individual pieces of it," Lindgren said Friday from Ottawa, where Mosaid is based and Nortel has had its biggest research and development operations Lindgren said he hoped that Nortel, which has been selling off various pieces of its global business under supervision of bankruptcy courts in the United States and Canada, doesn't auction off its remaining patents to a single bidder.

Individual patents, which recognize the holder's legal right to use, sell or licence out specified intellectual property, could be practically worthless or extremely valuable depending on how useful they are and how well they can be defended.

In one　 of the most famous patent battles, Canada's Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) ended up paying more than US$600 million for a patent portfolio controlled by NTP Inc., a Virginia firm set up to manage a portfolio of patents.

More recently, RIM agreed to pay US$267.5 million for unspecified patents from California-based Visto Corp. and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) has been ordered to pay US$290 million for infringing on patents owned by Toronto-based i4i.

While Mosaid is interested in Nortel's sought-after LTE patents for advance wireless networks and mobile phones and patents for optical telecommunications networks, it's also looking at lesser-known patents.

"Other interesting technologies that they have are bits and pieces, here and there, that you wouldn't necessarily think of that are associated with Nortel," Lindgren said.

Those include patents for Internet technologies, some of which are "a bit obscure," and for electronic commerce, Lindgren said.

"There was a lot of blue sky stuff going on there and that becomes very interesting," Lindgren said, noting that Nortel has spent billions of dollars on diversified research and development at as many as 33 locations.

"You know there's going to be some crown jewels in there that aren't aligned with Nortel's current business, but would create excellent licensing opportunities." Nortel retains ownership of the key LTE patents under the US$1.13 billion sale of its wireless division to Swedish telecom Ericsson.

LTE, or Long Term Evolution, is expected to give mobile phone users the same experience or faster that they have at home with high-speed Internet.

Ericsson has said it's licensing deal for the LTE patents leaves open the option for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) to access them too.

But Waterloo-Ont.-based RIM has said Ericsson's position "destroys most of the value" of the LTE patents to it or any other interested party.

The federal government will be reviewing the sale of Nortel Networks' Enterprise Solutions division to U.S. telecom equipment giant Avaya Inc. to see if the deal will bring enough economic benefit to Canada.

Ottawa-based Mosaid is one　 of the world's leading technology patent licensing companies and is known for its patents on semiconductors, or the chips that are the brains of electronics, and for flash memory used in such devices as laptops and digital cameras.

It's also known for its portfolio of Wi-Fi patents that have been licensed for use in smartphones and laptops.

Mosaid has about 1,800 patents and applications.

4. Church & Dwight settles patent suits Abbott Labs and Surmodics
By Michael Johnsen

PRINCETON, N.J. (Sep. 25) Church & Dwight entered into a settlement agreement with respect to all outstanding patent litigation between the parties relating to pregnancy diagnostic test kits with Abbott Labs and Surmodics on Sept. 17, the company, marketer of First Response pregnancy test kits, announced in an SEC filing Thursday.

The agreement provides that Abbott will pay $27 million to Church & Dwight within 30 days. Church & Dwight, Abbott and Surmodics also exchanged mutual releases with regard to all claims for past damages relating to patents asserted in the litigations, and both Abbott and Surmodics agreed not to sue Church & Dwight on any intellectual property relating to continued manufacture and sale of the products that were the subject of an infringement action by Abbott and Surmodics.

5. September 25, 2009 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Baldwin and technotrans End Patent Dispute

SHELTON, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Baldwin Technology Company, Inc. (NYSE Amex:BLD), a global leader in process automation technology for the printing industry, announced the settlement of its patent dispute with technotrans.

Baldwin Germany GmbH, Friedberg, as the plaintiff and technotrans AG, Sassenberg, as the defendant, have agreed to an out-of-court settlement to terminate the proceedings that have been continuing for a number of years in connection with the infringement of a patent. Technotrans is to pay an amount of EURO 6.5million (approximately $9.6 million) in compensation to Baldwin. In return, Baldwin undertakes to declare the proceedings before the Dusseldorf district court in respect of the amount as settled.

The Boards of Management of both parties have reached the conclusion that this solution is in the best interests of both companies.

About Baldwin
Baldwin Technology Company, Inc. is a leading international supplier of process automation equipment for the printing and publishing industries. Baldwin offers its customers a broad range of market-leading technologies, products and systems that enhance the quality of printed products and improve the economic and environmental efficiency of printing presses. Headquartered in Shelton, Connecticut, the company has operations strategically located in the major print markets and distributes its products via a global sales and service infrastructure. Baldwin’s technology and products include cleaning systems, fluid management and ink control systems, web press protection systems and drying systems and the related consumables. For more information, visit http://www.baldwintech.com.

Information for investors, including an investment profile about Baldwin is available at www.hawkassociates.com/profile/bld.cfm. Investors may contact Julie Marshall or Frank Hawkins, Hawk Associates, at (305) 451-1888, e-mail: baldwin@hawkassociates.com. An onl　ine investor kit including press releases, current price quotes, stock charts and other valuable information for investors are available at http://www.hawkassociates.com.

This release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties or other factors not under the company’s control, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from the results, performance, or other expectations implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, those detailed in the company’s periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contacts
For Baldwin Technology Company, Inc., Shelton
Hawk Associates
Julie Marshall or Frank Hawkins, 305-451-1888

6. Epistar settles LED patent lawsuit with Philips
MOPS, September 24; Yvonne Yu, DIGITIMES [Friday 25 September 2009]

LED chipmaker Epistar has announced that its patent lawsuit with Philips has been settled. Philips will begin to license AlInGaP LED technology to Epistar, according to a company statement with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE). But Epistar did not disclose the terms for the licensing.

7. Alcon's patent infringement suit against Synergetics USA stayed
25. 9월 2009 05:32

Synergetics USA, Inc. (NASDAQ: SURG), a leading medical device company that designs, manufactures, and markets innovative microsurgical instruments and other devices, today announced that the lawsuit filed by Alcon Research, Ltd. against the Company in the Northern District of Texas, Case No. 4-08CV-609-Y has been stayed in its entirety until both of the patents at issue have completed re-examination in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”). This lawsuit alleges infringement of United States Patents No. 5,603,710 and 5,318,560, as well as infringement of three Alcon-owned trademarks*, namely Alcon®, Accurus® and Greishaber®. The Court found that the stay would not prejudice or be a tactical disadvantage for Alcon and that the stay may allow the re-examination to simplify or eliminate the issues in question. The PTO has stated in its Ex Parte Re-examination Filing Data as of June 30, 2009, an average re-examination by the PTO takes approximately 25 months to complete. In addition, 75 percent of the time the patent’s original claims are either canceled or changed.

“We are pleased with the Court’s findings in this case as it is unlikely that this lawsuit will have a significant impact on our financial position or be a further drain on our resources in the near future, if ever,” commented David Hable, President and Chief Executive Officer of Synergetics USA.

8. Acacia Expands Patent Portfolios with License Agreements
Today, 06:43 am ComputerWire Staff

Acacia Research has announced that its subsidiaries Data Network Storage and Acacia Patent Acquisition have entered into license agreements to settle patent litigation as well as expand revenue growth.

The company said Data Network Storage has signed a license agreement with Digilink Technology covering its storage area network technology.

Acacia Patent Acquisition has acquired patents for integrated access technology from an affiliate of a large technology company. It said the technology is used to deliver triple play services and can be used in installations that incorporate set top boxes and/or voice/data gateways.

Paul Ryan, chairman and CEO at Acacia, said: “Acacia continues to grow its base of future revenues by adding new patent portfolios. As our licensing success grows, more patent owners are selecting us as their partner for the licensing of their patented technologies.”
Acacia Research’s subsidiaries control over 100 patent portfolios. Last month Acacia subsidiary International Printer signed a settlement and license agreement with Xerox covering a patent portfolio relating to networkable multifunction printer technology. In June Acacia's Hospital Systems Corporation subsidiary resolved a patent dispute with Sectra North America by licensing its PACS technology.