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Patent Office Director Michelle Lee Has Resigned

posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday June 07 2017, @02:21PM   
from the fighting-against-the-tide-is-tiring dept.

-- OriginalOwner_ writes:

TechDirt reports

[...] The past few USPTO directors had been cut from the "more patents is always a good thing" mold, whereas Lee actually recognized that bad patents harmed innovation. And even though the last time the Patent Office got concerned about bad patents it allowed the patent approval backlog to fill up, under Lee the backlog has reached its lowest point in a decade.[paywall]

[...] For all the craziness going on in the government right now, having competent leadership at the USPTO would be one less thing to worry about. But... now it's being reported that Lee has suddenly resigned and sent a goodbye email to staff. That's bad news on the patent front.

Of course, it may be ages before any new director is appointed. As I type this, of the 559 key positions requiring Senate confirmation, Trump hasn't even named a nominee for 431 of them. [...] Adding the new USPTO director to that pile may mean no new USPTO director for.... who the hell knows how long.

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Original Submission

• ''EpiPen'' (Unrepentant douchebags) ''EpiPen'' (Unrepentant douchebags) (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 07 2017, @07:45PM (1 child)

  by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 07 2017, @07:45PM (#522165)

  From just the other day:

  EpiPen manufacturer says Go fuck yourselves [gizmodo.com]
  The New York Times has a new article about the fact that prices for the live-saving allergy medication haven’t actually come down since last year [nytimes.com]. And the article has a rather strange way of describing the attitude of Mylan chairman Robert Coury.

  This is how the New York Times describes Coury's reaction to critics of Mylan's price gouging [nytimes.com]:

  Mr. Coury replied that he was untroubled. He raised both his middle fingers and explained, using colorful language, that anyone criticizing Mylan, including its employees, ought to go copulate with themselves. Critics in Congress and on Wall Street, he said, should do the same. And regulators at the Food and Drug Administration? They, too, deserved a round of anatomically challenging self-fulfillment.

  -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  Parent

• Re:''EpiPen'' (Unrepentant douchebags) (Score: 2) by Wootery on Thursday June 08 2017, @10:23AM

  by Wootery (2341) on Thursday June 08 2017, @10:23AM (#522514)

  So, like I said: If they're no longer under patent-protection, why is no-one else manufacturing them at a lower price?

  Parent