This month, we feature another yet another patent that takes an ordinary business practice and does it on a computer. Our winner is US Patent No. 8,738,435, titled “Method and apparatus for presenting personalized content relating to offered products and services.” As you might guess from its title, the patent claims the idea of sending a personalized marketing message using a computer.
Source: Stupid Patent of the Month: Phoenix Licensing Trolls Marketers | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Amid outcry, KaloBios may jack the drug’s price and make millions off FDA voucher.
Source: In comeback bid, Shkreli’s old company gets OK to buy life-saving drug | Ars Technica
After firing indicted CEO, company now fights to keep shares listed on NASDAQ.
Source: Martin Shkreli’s other pharma company files for bankruptcy | Ars Technica
A top official at Johnson & Johnson dismissed questions about drug price reform debate, saying that the company is “responsible” in pricing its drugs.
Source: Pharma Exec for Maker of $150,000 Cancer Drug Tells Investors Its Pricing Is “Very Responsible”
Pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and market highly addictive opioid painkillers are funding nonprofit groups fighting against reforms.
Source: Makers of OxyContin Bankroll Efforts to Undermine Prescription Painkiller Reform
For the first time ever, this month’s Stupid Patent of the Month is being awarded to a design patent. Microsoft recently sued Corel for, among other things, infringing its patent on a slider, D554,140, claiming that Corel Home Office has infringed Microsoft’s design. The design patent, as detailed by Microsoft in its complaint, is titled “User Interface for a Portion of a Display Screen” and entitles Microsoft to own this:
Source: Stupid Patent of the Month: Microsoft’s Design Patent on a Slider | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Following arrest of CEO, KaloBios loses CFO, accountants, is delisted from Nasdaq.
Source: Martin Shkreli’s other pharma company is dramatically collapsing | Ars Technica
World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR) is reporting that the European Patent Office, EPO, has threatened Roy Schestowitz with a defamation lawsuit over a blog post he did. Schestowitz writes the Techrights blog, which I personally think can go overboard with some of its stories at times. However, to argue that his stories are defamation, especially by a government agency, is crazy.
Source: European Patent Office Threatens Blogger With Defamation Lawsuit For Criticism | Techdirt
Bipartisan committee to probe Turing and its ilk about pricing practices
Source: $750/pill pharma company under investigation by Senate for price gouging | Ars Technica
Back in 2011, This American Life toured an office building in Marshall, Texas, and found eerie hallways of empty offices that serve as the ‘headquarters’ of patent trolls. For many, that was the first introduction to the strange world of the Eastern District of Texas, its outsized role in patent litigation and especially its effective support of the patent troll business model.
