CAFC rules that Patent Term Adjustments by the USPTO Inadequate

In an important case, Wyeth has successfully appealed to the CAFC about how patent term adjustments for delays in examining are calculated.

See http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/opinions/09-1120.pdf

That the case was brought by Wyeth is not surprising. For a pharmaceutical company, days and weeks of patent protection is big money. I would, however, submit, that the time for a pharmaceutical patent to issue is rarely longer than the time for FDA approval, and thus the damage caused is virtual whereas the compensation by adding a period at the end of the patent term is very real indeed. Consequently I would like to see this adjustment running concurrently with patent term extensions since there is a public interest for pharmaceutical patents to expire eventually, enabling distribution of cheaper generic equivalents.

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