Israeli company Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. recently announced the U.S. Supreme Court will hear its appeal of a decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, according to Bionews Texas. That decision invalidated the claim of U.S. Patent 5,800,808, which Teva holds and which claims the process for manufacturing the active ingredient of Teva's relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis medication, copaxone 20mg/mL. Teva says it is committing to exploring all of its options to protect its intellectual property for copaxone. The drug is expensive, and reduces the frequency of relapse in patients who have relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, which includes those who have experienced a clinical episode and have MRI results consistent with a diagnosis of MS.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed House Bill 116 on March 19, and it will become law on July 1. The bill will extend trade secret protections to universities and community colleges through exempting commercial, scientific or technical research materials from the state's Open Records Act until the research is published, according to Claims Journal.

Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG filed a patent infringement suit in India against Biocon Ltd. regarding its patent covering the diabetes drug vildagliptin, which is sold under the trade name Galvus. According to The Hindu Business Line, Galvus brought in $1.2 billion from global sales last year. In a statement, Biocon asserted it does not sell any form of that drug in India.

Lord Younger, the Minister for Intellectual Property, spoke at the Houses of Parliament recently at an event sponsored by the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST). He contended that the UK government must continue to enforce harsh penalties on intellectual property theft to support innovation and economic recovery.

The Korean Intellectual Property Office joined the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs on March 31, and marked the occasion with a ceremony at the World Intellectual Property Organization, according to IP Watch. 

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments recently in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank - a case having to do with the eligibility of software for patent protection. According to Reuters, the justices did not indicate they would set radical new guidelines. This assumption comes from the character of the questions the justices asked during an hour-long oral argument. Tech companies are watching this case with particular interest.

Microsoft and Dell announced on March 28 that they have entered a patent licensing agreement that will allow the firms to "build on each other's innovations." The companies chose not to reveal much detail, but mentioned Android, Chrome OS and Xbox products, according to The Next Web.

Tokyo District Court Judge Koji Hasegawa ruled Apple's iPhone 4S, 4 and iPad 2 did not represent infringements on a data communications patent Samsung holds, according to Bloomberg. Samsung, a Korea-based company, had claimed those particular devices infringed its intellectual property. Samsung had requested Apple pay damages if it were found to be involved in intellectual property violation.

Representatives of indigenous peoples from around the world spoke at a meeting at the World Intellectual Property Organization recently. The theme of the panel was "Intellectual property, Traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions: Indigenous Peoples' 'right to maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property' under Article 31 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples."

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec), the largest oil refiner in Asia, denied infringing the intellectual property of Ineos after the Swiss chemicals company brought Sinopec to court in Beijing, according to The Guardian.