New patent rules that would limit biotech companies to one follow-on application for therapeutic patents are drawing fire from drug developers who say it will hurt companies' ability to protect work on drugs that can take up to 10 years to develop. The patent office says it needs the new rules to help deal with a backlog of patent applications that has been growing steadily for five years. It's an important point for drug companies, which add follow-on applications for new therapeutic applications in a rolling patent review. Drugs often have multiple targets that are defined during clinical trials.
- read this article from The San Jose Business Journal