In This Issue Return to LES Home LES Spring Meeting: Hot IP Topics Featured In Atlanta President's Message: The Licensed Patent Challenge CLP Design Team Seeks Your Input New Alliances Lead To Breakthrough Webinars Sector Spotlight Chemicals, Energy and Materials Sector: CEMC Activities At LES Winter Meeting High Technology Sector: New Digital Content Committee Kicks Off At Winter Meeting Biomedical Devices Committee Inaugural Meeting In San Francisco Healthcare Sector: Reality Check: What Has Pharma Really Been Paying For Alliances? Mass Collaboration In Licensing: Is Wikinomics For You? LES Winter Meeting: Supreme Court Ruling Creates "Buzz" At Winter Meeting LES Local Chapter Minnesota: A Member Friendly Chapter Julius Vida Honored With Mentor Award Microsoft VP Issues A Call To Arms For New Voices In The IP Reform Debate PTO is calling... LES Annual Meeting: Change And The New Deal LES Calendar of Events		San Francisco Recap Supreme Court Ruling Creates "Buzz" At Winter Meeting Changes in licensing by the Supreme Court provided interesting and timely topics for discussion among attendees at the LES (USA & Canada) Winter Meeting held in February at San Francisco's elegant Palace Hotel. There were more than 400 LES members in attendance as LES President Allen Baum opened the meeting with comments on MedImmune v. Genentech (Supreme Court 2006) and the changes that case has brought to licensing. David Kappos David Kappos, Vice President and Assistant General Counsel of Intellectual Property Law for IBM Corporation, came to bat on Thursday morning by using baseball analogies. Calling the pitches, he outlined the Supreme Court's task of rebalancing IP legislative reform. "We're all in a global innovation game and it's a delicate balance, because the forces of globalization can be destructive," said Kappos. "We need a strong but fair parent system balanced by the rights of inventors." Kappos views the Supreme Court as a new umpire stepping in. He noted that the court has been engaged with recent cases: MercExchange v. Ebay, MedImmune v. Genentech, KSR International v. Teleflex, and ATT v. Microsoft. From there, he sees 2007 reform as a real possibility. Brian Kacedon At an afternoon workshop, the dialogue on MedImmune v. Genentech continued with Brian Kacedon of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP. In this case, Genentech granted a patent license to MedImmune, and later said one of MedImmune's products was covered by the patent. MedImmune paid royalties under protest and also filed a declaratory judgment action in federal court. Genentech argued that MedImmune could not file that judgment without first stopping its royalty payments. The legal argument presented that the suit did not involve a "case or controversy" because there was no real legal dispute between the parties. The Federal Circuit agreed that a license in good standing couldn't be sued. However, the Supreme Court reversed the Federal Circuit decision and stated that a licensee does not have to breach their licensing agreement to sue a licensor. Contrary to the opinion that there will be an influx of litigation after this decision, Kacedon believes that the cost and complexity of going through the process will prohibit a large increase in lawsuits. Also, the licensees may have to go back to their licensors for future licenses. Kacedon sees increasing challenges to come in agreements where there is still a large royalty burden due. Reach-through royalties may come into play here, where companies paid little up front on a license but have to pay royalties on products developed through the license. He also sees new licenses addressing MedImmune by including clauses providing for termination or royalty increases in the event of a challenge. It wasn't all work and no play for meeting attendees who participated in the Segway Tour of the San Francisco waterfront or tasted Napa Valley wines. Some meeting attendees may have even caught a glimpse of Senator Hilary Clinton, who was moderating a town hall meeting at the Palace Hotel on Friday afternoon. The Winter Meeting came to a close with an outstanding networking dinner in the Historic Garden Court where past presidents and celebrities have dined. Truly all who attended were "changed" by the Winter Meeting experience in some way. Meeting Chairs Mike and Jennifer Lee at the final Networking Dinner. Bruce Jennett moderates the kick-off plenary panel on trends in venture capital. Craig Christianson describes licensing WARF's pioneering stem cell research. Over 25 workshops from all LES sectors gave plenty of take-away information to attendees. The centralized Tech Fair showcases vendors.
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