NEWS OF THE W EEK
PATENT OFFICE CHIEF TO STEP DOWN PERSONNEL: David Kappos helped
AP
streamline U.S. patent process
Kappos
T
HE DIRECTOR of the U.S. Patent & Trademark
Office (PTO), David J. Kappos, announced last week that he is stepping down, with his resignation effective near the end of January 2013. He did not cite a reason for leaving the agency, although personnel changes throughout the Obama Administration have been widely anticipated for President Barack Obama’s second term. “I believe we have made great progress in reducing the patent backlog, increasing operational efficiency, and exerting leadership in [intellectual property] policy domestically and internationally,” Kappos said in an e-mail to staff. He has served as PTO director since 2009. During his tenure, Kappos bolstered PTO’s patent application examining corps and is widely credited with making the agency more efficient. Notably, the backlog of patent applications has dropped from some 750,000 at the end of 2008 to about 605,000 now.
LIFE SUPPORT FOR MONTREAL R&D BIOTECH: Industry, government
form nonprofit research hub
erations out of Quebec in rapid succession, Canadian authorities are trying to sustain the region’s life sciences community. In the latest effort, the government, along with AstraZeneca and Pfizer, is committing $100 million over five years to establish the NeoMed Institute, a nonprofit research center in Montreal. NeoMed aspires to bridge the gap between basic research and early clinical studies for drug candidates by offering universities and biotech start-ups funding and services. The hope is to eventually restore some of the hundreds of R&D jobs the region has lost in the past two years. AstraZeneca and Pfizer, along with any other big pharma partners that join NeoMed, will have an option to license molecules developed there. AstraZeneca is kicking in its forASTRAZENECA
AstraZeneca is donating this R&D site to NeoMed.
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S DRUG COMPANIES move their R&D op-
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“Director Kappos was able to bring the number of examiners and administrative patent judges in line with the increased amount of workload to keep the backlogs in check,” says Kendrew H. Colton, a partner at Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery. “He has earned the respect of the bar and other users of the U.S. patent system.” Over the past year, Kappos has overseen implementation of the America Invents Act of 2011, the first major overhaul of U.S. patent law since 1952. He also set up PTO’s first-ever satellite office in Detroit and awarded future branch offices to Denver, Dallas, and San Jose. “Amidst the profound changes to U.S. patent law, Kappos has worked closely with the patent community to implement regulations that best serve patent users and the examination process,” says Paul M. Rivard, a patent attorney at Banner & Witcoff. “He truly has taken great strides toward his goal of creating a 21stcentury patent system in the U.S.” Before Kappos was appointed by the President to lead PTO, he had worked at IBM for 25 years, most recently as vice president and assistant general counsel in charge of worldwide intellectual property operations. PTO Deputy Director Teresa Stanek Rea will serve as acting director for the agency until an Administration nominee is confirmed by the Senate. Kappos has not said what his career plans might be after he leaves PTO.—GLENN HESS
mer neuroscience research facility, which was focused on developing small molecules, along with $5 million and intellectual property for three potential pain drugs. The firm values its input at $35 million. Pfizer will chip in $3.5 million, and the Quebec government has earmarked $28 million for the project. The Canadian government and other pharma partners are expected to make up the balance of the $100 million. AstraZeneca shut down the Montreal site earlier this year as part of an overhaul of its R&D organization that included adopting a “virtual” model for neuroscience research. Some 132 scientists were employed at the site. Alf Larsson, vice president of special projects for AstraZeneca’s R&D operations, led his firm’s participation in NeoMed as head of a team tasked with finding “a new opportunity” for the Montreal assets. When Max Fehlmann, former CEO of the Quebec Consortium for Drug Discovery, approached AstraZeneca with the idea, “it made absolute sense to me to fill the gap between academic research and pharma,” Larsson says. The research center will provide minimal relief for the victims of pharma-related R&D job losses in the Montreal region. In addition to AstraZeneca, Merck & Co., Johnson & Johnson, and Boehringer Ingelheim all have shuttered R&D sites or significantly cut the number of scientists they employ in Quebec. Initially, NeoMed will employ 15 to 20 scientists— many of whom used to work for AstraZeneca—although the partners say up to 100 researchers could eventually work there.—LISA JARVIS
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