Tafas v. Dudas et al

Filing 217

MOTION for Leave to File a Brief in Support of The Plaintiffs' Anticipated Motions for Summary Judgment by Federation Internationale Des Conseils En Proprit Industrielle. (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Order # 2 Proposed Amicus Brief# 3 Exhibit A# 4 Exhibit B)(rban, )

Tafas v. Dudas et al

Doc. 217

Case 1:07-cv-00846-JCC-TRJ

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FILED

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
Alexandria Division
;

TRIANTAFYLLOS TAFAS
Plaintiff,
v.

}J

Case No. 1:07cv846 (JCC/TRJ)

JON W. DUDAS, ET AL.,
Defendants.

CONSOLIDATED WITH

SMITHKLINE BEECHAM CORPORATION, etal.,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. l:07cvl008 (JCC/TRJ)

JON W. DUDAS, ET AL.,
Defendants.

MOTION OF AMICUS CURIAE FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DES CONSEILS EN PROPRIETE INDUSTRIELLE FOR LEAVE TO FILE A BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF
THE PLAINTIFFS' ANTICIPATED MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Federation Internationale Des Conseils En Propriete Industrielle ("FICPI"), by

undersigned counsel, moves for leave to file a brief as amicus curiae in support of plaintiffs
SmithKline Beecham Corporation, SmithKline Beecham PLC, and Glaxo Group Limited's (collectively referred to as the "GSK Plaintiffs") and plaintiff Triantafyllos Tafas' anticipated
motions for summary judgment. No oral argument is requested.

Dockets.Justia.com

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The GSK Plaintiffs and Mr. Tafas, by their respective counsel of record, have
consented to the filing of this motion and FICPI's appearance as an amicus. The defendants have

expressly declined to take a position, but agree that no hearing is necessary to decide this motion. FICPI requests that this motion be granted and its amicus brief be due in accordance with the
briefing schedule as set by the proceedings in this matter.
I. INTEREST OF THE AMICUS CURIAE

Established in 1906, FICPI is a Switzerland-based international and non-political association of approximately 4,000 intellectual property attorneys from over eighty countries

(including the United States). FICPI's members represent individual inventors as well as large, medium and small companies. One of the members' major roles is to advise inventors in FICPI supports

intellectual property matters and secure protection for industrial innovation.

predictable, balanced global protection of patents, the global harmonization of substantive patent law, and the interests of inventors and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("the PTO") for
recognizing a fair scope of patent protection consistent with the claimed invention.

FICPI is one of only two major world organizations that advises the World

Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO"), an intergovernmental organization dedicated to
promoting and protecting intellectual property rights worldwide, on all intellectual property
matters. In this capacity, FICPI members have attended Diplomatic Conferences concerning

international intellectual property treaties and practices. WIPO's 180 member states (including the United States) comprise almost ninety percent of the world's countries. See About WIPO, at
http://www.wipo.int/about-wipo/en/. As one of the sixteen specialized agencies of the United

Nations system of organizations, WIPO administers intellectual property matters recognized by
the U.N.'s member states and twenty-three international treaties concerning intellectual property.

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See id. The United States is a member of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents

("SCP") and is involved with WIPO's efforts to harmonize substantive patent law worldwide,
including pursuant to a Substantive Patent Law Treaty, which currently is in draft form.1 II. WHY AN AMICUS BRIEF IS DESIRABLE AND WHY THE MATTERS ASSERTED ARE RELEVANT TO THE DISPOSITION OF THE CASE
As FICPI is largely comprised of patent practitioners representing foreign

inventors and corporate entities, FICPI is poised to give the court the perspective of the
international patent community. Because the instant case may potentially significantly affect the
way foreign companies operate vis-a-vis their patent filing strategies, FICPI would like to voice
concerns regarding the threat posed by PTO's Final Rules, published on August 21, 2007,

Changes to Practice

for Continued Examination Filings, Patent Applications Containing

Patentably Indistinct Claims and Examination of claims in Patent Applications, 72 Fed. Reg.

46,716 (Aug. 21, 2007), and, in particular, Rule 1.78 regarding divisional practice. In November 2007, FICPI, assembled at its Executive Committee in Seville, Spain, adopted a Resolution

regarding Divisional Patent Applications.2 As amicus curiae, FICPI's positions would address
the issue of the PTO's final rules on the divisional applications registration process and their
general impact on the United States patent system.

http://www.wipo.int/patent/law/en/harmonization.htm.

1 See Substantive Patent Law Harmonization, at

2 FICPI, EXCO/ES07/RES/003, November 4-7, 2007

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III.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, this Court should grant this motion for leave to file the
attached amicus curiae brief. Dated: January 2,2008

Respectfully Submitted,

Federation Internationale Des Conseils En Propriete Industrielle

Bingham McCutchen LLP 2020 K Street NW Washington, DC 20006-1806
[phone]

R. Danny Huntingdon (VA Bar;

6407)

Counsel for Amicus Curiae
Of Counsel: Maxim H. Waldbaum Julie Busch Henry L. Mann

900 Third Ave 23rd Floor
New York, NY 10022 [phone]

SchiffHardinLLP

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on this 2nd day of January 2008,1 filed the foregoing MOTION OF AMICUS CURIAE FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DES CONSEILS EN PROPRIETE INDUSTRIELLE FOR LEAVE TO FILE A BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF THE PLAINTIFFS' ANTICIPATED MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT with the Clerk of the Court and served
a true and correct copy to the following by email:

Elizabeth M. Locke Kirkland & Ellis LLP 655 15th Street, NW Suite 1200 Washington, DC 20005

Email: [e-mail]
and

Craig C. Reilly

Richard McGettigan Reilly & West PC 1725 Duke Street Suite 600 Alexandria, VA 22314 Email: [e-mail]
Counsel for GSK Plaintiffs
Joseph Dale Wilson, III Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Washington Harbour 3050 K Street NW Suite 400 Washington, DC 20007

Email: [e-mail]
Counselfor Plaintiffs Tafas
Lauren A. Wetzler United States Attorney's Office 2100 Jamison Ave.

Alexandria, VA 22314 Email: [e-mail]
Counsel for the Defendants

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Thomas J. O'Brien
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

1111 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20004

Email: to'[e-mail]

Counsel for Amicus American Intellectual Property Lawyers Association
Dawn-Marie Bey

Kilpatrick Stockton, LLP 700 13th Street, NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20005
Email: dbey@ks|aw.com

Counsel for Amicus Hexas, LLC, The Roskamp Institute, Tikvah Therapeutics, Inc.
James Murphy Dowd

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP 1455 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20004 Email: [e-mail]

Counsel for Amicus Pharmaceutical Research and Manufactures ofAmerica
Rebecca Malkin Carr
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
2300 N St NW

Washington, DC 20037

Email: [e-mail]
and

Scott Jeffrey Pivnick

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP 1650 Tysons Blvd, Suite 400
McLean, VA 22102

Email: [e-mail]
Counsel for Amicus Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

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Randal Karl Miller

Arnold & Porter LLP 1600 Tysons Blvd., Suite 900 McLean, VA 22102

Email: [e-mail]
Counsel for Amicus Monsanto Company
Charles Gorenstein Michael K. Mutter Birch, Stewart, Kolasch and Birch, LLP 8110 Gatehouse Rd., Suite 100 East Falls Church, Virginia 22042
Email: [e-mail]

Counsel for Amicus Intellectual Property Institute of the William Mitchell College ofLaw
Robert E. Scully, Jr.

Stites & Harbison PLLC 1199 North Fairfax Street, Suite 900 Alexandria, Virginia 22314 Email: [e-mail]

Counsel for Amicus Human Genome Sciences, Inc. Federation Internationale Des Conseils En
Propriete Industrielle

R. Danny Huntingdon (VA Bar# 16407)
Bingham McCutchen LLP
2020 K Street NW

Washington, DC 20006-1806
[phone]

Counsel for Amicus Curiae