Download Inventorship and Ownership

Inventorship and Ownership
Patent Law
4.27.04
• United States Patent 4,837,208 Rideout , et al. * June 6, 1989
Treatment of human viral infections
• Abstract
• Treatment of AIDS or humans carrying or infected with the AIDS
virus or having antibodies to the AIDS virus is disclosed using the
compound 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine or a pharmaceutically
acceptable basic salt thereof. Also disclosed is the use of the 5'mono-, di- and triphosphate of 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine or a
pharmaceutically acceptable basic salt thereof for the same
purpose.
• Inventors: Rideout; Janet L. (Raleigh, NC); Barry; David W.
(Chapel Hill, NC); Lehrman; Sandra N. (Durham, NC); St. Clair;
Martha H. (Durham, NC); Furman; Phillip A. (Durham, NC)
Assignee: Burroughs Wellcome Co. (Research Triangle Park, NC)
[*] Notice: The portion of the term of this patent subsequent to
February 9, 2005 has been disclaimed.Appl. No.: 110377Filed:
October 20, 1987
AZT: AIDS Healthcare Found. v. GlaxoSmithKline
Andrews Number 43.4.3.1
AIDS Advocacy Group Seeks to Invalidate AZT
Patents
AIDS Litigation Reporter
Volume 16, Issue 3
[Published 11/4/2002]
Saying that patents now held on AZT and other AIDSrelated drugs by GlaxoSmithKline were obtained through
fraudulent statements to the U.S. Patent Office and were
based on publicly funded research, an AIDS advocacy
group has amended its recent antitrust suit to include a
request that the patents be invalidated so U.S. residents
can take advantage of cheaper, generic versions of the
drugs. AIDS Healthcare Foundation v. GlaxoSmithKline
PLC et al., No. 02-5223 TJH, first amended complaint
filed (C.D. Cal., W. Div., 10/15/2002)
Lawsuit Challenges Patent on AZT
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS No. 124 - April 5, 1991
John S. James
A lawsuit prepared by Public Citizen, a nonprofit public interest group
founded by Ralph Nader, has challenged Burroughs Wellcome's
1988 patent on AZT (brand name Retrovir). The lawsuit claims that
the patent is invalid because "the company did not conceive,
develop or demonstrate the utility of the drug, nor did it name all of
the inventors in its patent application," according to a March 19
press release from Public Citizen. "This lawsuit will establish the
public's right to a fair price, and it gives the government a vehicle to
challenge Burroughs Wellcome's monopoly." Plaintiffs include the
PWA Health Group in New York, and two individuals in Washington,
D. C., who are using AZT. Burroughs Wellcome's press release of
the same date claimed that its scientists "were the first to conceive
the use of the chemical AZT for the treatment of HIV infection in
humans" -- the basis of the company's use patent, and that
challenging the patent now, "more than five years after its
filing...could have a chilling effect on innovation in the United States
and could discourage future AIDS research." The press release also
states that the company has supported "in whole or in part, more
than 90 Retrovir-related clinical trials involving some 10,000 patients
worldwide," and that the current price of approximately $2,200 per
year for the dose of 500 mg per day "represents a 70 percent
reduction in cost of therapy as a result of price decreases and
reduced dosage since the drug was first marketed in 1987."