Dear BIPLA Members and Colleagues,
Happy summer to all and thanks for making the first half of 2026 great for the BIPLA! Of course, a highlight of our spring was the 6th Annual Symposium in April. We thank all of our sponsors, committee chairs, speakers, and attendees for making it a wonderful event.
Looking forward, we hope everyone will join our annual Celebration of the Judiciary in September, where we will honor Federal Circuit Judge Timothy B. Dyk with our Public Service Award. The event takes place September 23, 2026, at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse and tickets are available.
We hope you enjoy this edition of the BIPLA Newsletter and thank you for your continued support of the BIPLA. If you have any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Derek Roller
President, Boston Intellectual Property Law Association
Editor's Note | BIPLA Sixth Annual Symposium | Hikma v. Amarin: What the Supreme Court's Decision Means for Skinny Labels and Induced Infringement |
The BIPLA was honored to hold its Sixth Annual Symposium on April 13-14, 2026, which was generously hosted at the WilmerHale offices in Boston. The BIPLA was proud to hear from guest presenters from as far away as China and Spain to give presentations to the membership on intellectual property law. From the opening presentation by Liz Jackson, Acting Director of the USPTO Northeast Regional Outreach Office, to a concluding fireside chat on the EU’s Unified Patent Court, the Symposium continued its tradition of providing engaging and educational content to the membership. | The Boston Intellectual Property Law Association held its 6th Annual Symposium on April 13-14, 2026. The symposium was hosted at the WilmerHale offices in Boston. With nearly 100 attendees and 7 sponsor organizations, this year’s symposium brought together intellectual property professionals from a variety of practice areas for two stimulating days of panel discussions and networking. Day one started with a presentation by Liz Jackson, Acting Director of the USPTO Northeast Regional Outreach Office, on trademark updates from the USPTO. <<Read More>> | The Supreme Court has issued a unanimous decision in Hikma v. Amarin,
holding that Amarin did not meet its pleading burden of plausibly
alleging that Hikma induced infringement of Amarin's patents relating to
reducing the occurrence of cardiovascular events. This decision
provides a significant reset on the Federal Circuit's assessing
sufficiency of pleading induced infringement by specifically focusing
the analysis on the affirmative actions taken by the alleged induced
infringer, rather than on how a direct infringer might view and respond
to such actions. This case is important for brand manufacturers pursuing
follow-on indications for previously approved drugs, and for generic
drug manufacturers seeking to obtain approval for unpatented indications via a section viii (skinny label) statement. |
2026 Annual Writing Competition | Numerical Subranges at the EPO: From Special Treatment to Gold Standard | Grossman, Tucker, Perreault & Pfleger, PLLC and Finch & Maloney, PLLC Combine to Form Secant IP |
BIPLA is once again holding its annual Writing Competition. Law school students are invited to submit papers relating to topics involving intellectual property law. Judges will consider the merits of each paper based on: (i) contribution to knowledge respecting intellectual property law; and (ii) the extent to which it displays original and creative thought or information not previously published or available. The requirements for eligibility are outlined below. <<Read More>> | The EPO’s treatment of numerical subranges is undergoing a significant shift. Following T 1688/20 and the 2026 Guidelines update, novelty of numerical subranges is now assessed using the gold standard of direct and unambiguous disclosure, replacing the traditional “narrow and sufficiently far removed” criteria. This alignment with the standard used for other types of features has implications for applicants, patentees and opponents defending or attacking numerical subranges | This combination brings together two well-established intellectual property practices with a longstanding professional relationship, aligned values, and complementary strengths. The unified firm will comprise more than 20 intellectualproperty attorneys, expanding on its depth of technical and legal expertise and increasing its capacity to support clients |
2026 Annual Celebration of the Judiciary | Chemical Committee MeetUp Recap | In House Committee MeetUp Recaps |
The Boston Intellectual Property Law Association proudly presents the Honorable Timothy B. Dyk of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit with this year’s Distinguished Public Service Award. Please join us on September 23, 2026, for an evening at the John Joseph Moakley US Courthouse along the Boston waterfront as we honor Judge Dyk. The event will open with a cocktail reception at 6 PM followed by a seated dinner at 7 PM. | On 11 June, the BIPLA chemical patent practice committee met at Trillium Brewery for drinks and to brainstorm future programming. We had an excellent and wide-ranging discussion. A theme emerged - people seem keen to do roundtables at casual venues. We discussed topics such as learning how to keep litigation considerations in mind during drafting and prosecution; alternative dispute resolution forums; and chemistry-specific drafting concerns. Trillium was a nice, if very busy, venue. | The In House Committee ran several MeetUps over the last quarter. Click through to read more about them! |