Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. started selling a generic version of a popular birth control pill Ortho-Tri-Cyclen patented by Johnson and Johnson, under the name Tri-Lo Sprintec, earlier this month after gaining FDA approval. In response, Johnson & Johnson sued Teva for patent infringement and Teva halted shipments and will make a royalty payment to Johnson & Johnson in return for a release. The size of the payment has not been disclosed, but will apparently only enter effect if a court enters a judgment upholding Johnson & Johnson’s patents, which are scheduled to expire in 2019. The U.S. sales of the drug are about $400 million a year. That’s a lot of pills.
Teva’s Birth Control Pill is Still Born
July 27, 2009
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Posted by Dr Michael Factor
Copyrighting News and Facts
July 27, 2009The New York Times reports about new software to track illegal postings from Associated Press. See http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/technology/start-ups/27attributor.html?_r=1
Clearly, news agencies have to monetize their products to pay writers and journalists. by people copying articles and providing alternative access, advertising rights are adversely affected.
There is a problem though. The Associated Press has a copyright notice that implies that reworking a piece is illegal and is copyright infringement. Copyright only extends as far as the expression of the idea and not the idea itself. Their journalist’s writing is copyright, the research and fact-finding isn’t. I can and do blog news articles that I read elsewhere. I sometimes acknowledge the source and sometimes don’t. I need to acknowledge sources of ideas, the creative aspect. But the leg-work? Not sure…
That said, if news agencies cannot monetize their work, they won’t do it. It could be that there is room for a special law (lex specialis) here. How about a short term news copyright on facts for 2 days or perhaps a week?
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Posted by Dr Michael Factor
