CambridgeIP's Arthur Lallement presented at the Drug Delivery for Lungs conference at Edinburgh on December 9, 2009. Over four hundred senior scientists from the inhaler and respiratory disease industry attended the conference and shared some of the latest research in the inhaler space.
 
For the last 20 years, the pharmaceutical industry has been developing propelled formulations based on HydroFluoroAlcanes (HFA) in order to comply with the Montreal Protocol banning the use of the ChloroFluoroAlcanes depleting the ozone layer. Many of the inhaler industry's key players were impacted significantly by the CFC ban, and in particular those in the Propelled Metered Dose Inhaler (pMDI) space. Industry players' strategy to adapt to the Montreal Protocol has broadly followed two directions: pMDI space innovation and moving out of PMDIs.
 
Now almost 20 years later, many of the original propellant HFA patents are expiring. This will result in many opportunities as well as threats for key industry players. The patent expiration's will allow the pharmaceutical industry to develop new pMDI formulations and to market generic pMDI formulations...

 
...To continue reading about the 'New Era for the Pharmaceutical Propellants' see our blog article here, including a presentation on HFA pMDI Patent Landscape.

Additionally, CambridgeIP is holding a free Webinar on the topic of 'Inhaler Devices: Evolution, Regulatory Impact and Emerging Innovations - Evidence and Techniques from patent-based analysis' on Tuesday 27 April 2010; 15.00 - 16.00 UK time.

To register please contact Sarah.Helm@cambridgeip.com.

 

 

Research conducted by CambridgeIP jointly with Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs) has uncovered interesting trends that can inform investment and growth strategies for companies in the low-carbon energy space.

CambridgeIP undertook an extensive analysis of patent ownership and the market adoption rates of six low-carbon energy technologies: wind, solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power, biomass-to electricity, clean coal and carbon capture. We also looked at how company strategies relate to different industry IP practices (such as cross-licensing agreements or technology standards).

Research and analysis revealed that the pace of deployment in the six clean-tech sectors is picking up.  And this increasing deployment potentially suggests that the time to market could be predictable for some clean technologies by comparing patenting activity and technology roll-out. In addition, growing complexity of the patent landscape in Wind and PV may be contributing to increased IP litigation in these spaces.

For access to the full report from CambridgeIP and Chatham House click here.
 

To find out more about CambridgeIP's CleanTech practice, please contact Ilian Iliev in the UK (ilian.iliev@cambridgeip.com) or Mark Meyer in North America (mark.meyer@cambridgeip.com)

 

Following the Stern Review on 'the Economics of Climate Change', the Foreign and Commonwealth Office established a Chevening Fellowship course focusing on this topic. Each year the Course brings together a group of Fellows who have responsibility for advising their governments around the world on climate change. 

Quentin Tannock (Chairman and Founder) of CambridgeIP was invited by the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainable Leadership, who are currently hosting the lectures, to present on research CambridgeIP has published. Quentin presented on the topic of 'The Economics of Climate Change: IP Ownership, Taking the Lead', covering ethical and policy issues, the facts on the ground in terms of IP ownership, the impact of international conventions and national policies on IP activity and the range of options for technology transfer in Low Carbon Technology spaces.

Quentin concluded that much applicable Low Carbon Technology already exists, and the drivers and mechanisms for technology owners to undertake technology deployment can be identified. Policy-makers need to develop 'smart' technology and IP policies that consider the diversity of technologies, markets and players. Significant challenges remain with respect to valuation of, payment for and deployment of existing applicable technologies. However, much can be done to improve the transparency and efficiency of the current IP system, without radical overhaul. Importantly, patents published around the world represent a global technology library containing a wealth of freely available information. Improving access to this wealth of science and technology data should be a priority for policy-makers.

To view the summary lecture presentation and entire blog piece on 'The Economics of Climate Change: IP Ownership, Taking the Lead' click here.