On May 20, pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) upheld one of four recently challenged patents for Gilead’s AIDS drug Viread, Reuters reports (reuters.com, 5/20).
Last year, the nonprofit group Public Patent Foundation challenged the Viread patents, saying that the scientific knowledge on which the patents were based existed prior to the patents’ approval.
“We have always believed that the U.S. PTO would recognize that Viread is a novel product, and we remain confident that the office will rule similarly on the remaining three patents under review,” said Gregg Alton, Gilead’s general counsel, in a statement. According to the article, Gilead said that the PTO has not announced a ruling on the remaining three patents.
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Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
Woman of the Month is supported by exclusive advertising from Gilead.
Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
