< Back to latest news & events

News

The Vedanta Opposition: A healthy sign of a maturing industry

September 2019

HGF Partners Craig Thomson and Rachel Fetches comment and analyse the “Vedanta Opposition” in Microbiome Times.

As we move towards marketing approval for microbiome therapeutics, the “value” of the microbiome industry is increasing exponentially. This will inevitably result in disputes between the leading competitors seeking to protect their key intellectual property (IP) rights, including patent monopoly rights.

The most significant challenge to patent rights in the therapeutic microbiome field to-date is the recently issued decision in the “Vedanta Opposition”. The patent (European Patent No. 2575835) was granted to the University of Tokyo (UoT) in October 2016.

Within the 9-months after grant, the European Patent Office (EPO) received six Oppositions from Seres Therapeutics, Nestec and four anonymous parties. The Opposition hearing lasted three days and almost 130 documents were considered. Ultimately, the patent was maintained by the EPO’s Opposition Division (OD) but in an amended form, with a narrowed claim scope; this decision has been appealed and it will likely be at least 2 years until the Appeal is heard.

Some elements of the claims raise difficulties for prospective patentees in the microbiome field as it enforces second use claims of this type in the national courts. Where does the OD’s decision leave Vedanta commercially?

Read the full article here.

Latest updates

IAM Patent 1000 2023

IAM Patent 1000 the world’s leading patent professionals 2023 guide has now been published and we are delighted to have 31 attorneys recognised as world-class individuals in the guide. The …

Read article
Event - 26th September 2023

Bioforward OBN Conference 2023

Bioforward, OBN’s ‘Roadmap for Growth’ Life Sciences event is set to take place at The King’s Centre in Oxford on Tuesday 26th September 2023. This event is designed to provide the support, skills, know-how …

Event details
Event - 28th-30th November 2023

IPBC Asia event

The IPBC Asia event is due to go ahead on 28th-30th November, at The Palace Hotel in Tokyo. This event will have experts from the IP market attending and sharing …

Event details

AI-Powered Personalised Medicine

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into healthcare has ushered in a new era of personalised medicine, promising more effective and tailored treatments for patients. Traditional medical approaches often adopt …

Read article