IT vs. Big Pharma

It's IT vs. Big Pharma in the patent arena:

Canada-based KSR manufactures gas pedals for General Motors Corp. It made a pedal that can be adjusted for the height of the driver and uses electronic signals rather than a mechanical cable to accelerate when the pedal is pushed.

Both features were developed separately _ the adjustable pedal over 25 years ago _ but Teleflex, a manufacturer based in Limerick, Pa., sued KSR in 2002, claiming that KSR's combination of the two features infringed on a patent it was issued in May 2001.

KSR argued that the patent should be invalidated because the combination of the two features is obvious.

Businesses Split on Patent Case, By Christopher S. Rugaber, The Associated Press, Friday, November 24, 2006; 8:29 PM

In the patent reform corner, Microsoft, Cisco, Intel and others. In the no-reform corner: Johnson & Johnson, GE, DuPont, etc.

This case is expected by many parties to produce some sort of landmark ruling, probably with some sort of change to existing patent law. We'll see.

-jsq

PS: Thanks, Johnny.