Patent Law Weblog
Category: News from Abroad
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What are SPCs? A Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC) is an intellectual property right available for active ingredients of human and veterinary medicinal products requiring marketing authorisation1. The highest tribunal hearing disputes involving SPCs for EU member states is the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Historically there have been numerous referrals to the…
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In Decision T 488/16, the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office (BoA) have revoked EP 1 169 038, which protected the blockbuster protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitor dasatinib (Sprycel®). The only request on file — a single claim directed to dasatinib per se or a salt thereof — was found to lack inventive…
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The UK Supreme Court's judgment in Lilly v Actavis has profound implications for the scope of protection provided by patent claims in the UK. The judgment moves away from the principle that the patentee should enjoy the full extent, but no more than the full extent, of the monopoly that a reasonable person skilled in…
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The UK has become the ninth state to deposit the document required to apply the Protocol on Provisional Application (PPA), which is an essential step towards formation of the UPC. Four more deposits, including that of Germany, are required for the PPA to come into force, which will allow the UPC to gain legal personality and…
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On 3 July, the European Patent Office (EPO) lifted its stays of proceedings on cases that had been held in abeyance pending new rules on the patent-eligibility of plant-related subject matter. Following an intervention by the European Commission in November 2016, as of December 2016 the EPO had stayed the prosecution of a number of…
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It was reported yesterday that the German Constitutional Court has asked the German Federal President not to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) for the time being. The request is the result of a complaint (Az.:2BvR 739/17) made to the Constitutional Court by an unnamed person. Details of the complaint are somewhat unclear at…
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By James Cherry* & Adam Denley** — The scope for enforcement of Swiss-style claims may be broader in Australia than for method of medical treatment claims. Second medical use inventions can be claimed in an ever increasing number of claim formats depending on the jurisdiction. While such inventions in Europe are now claimed in purpose-limited-product…
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In December 2016, the Norwegian Court of Appeal handed down its decision in Pharmaq v Intervet[1], which concerns the validity of Intervet's SPC for a viral vaccine for preventing pancreatic disease (PD) in salmonid fish. Followers of SPC case law will be aware that questions relating to this case have previously been considered by the…
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The Preparatory Committee of the UPC has published a revised timetable for the final stages of preparations for the opening of the Unified Patent Court (UPC). The revised timetable indicates that the Sunrise Period during which existing European Patents can be opted out of the jurisdiction of the UPC could start in September 2017 and the UPC…
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By David Brown* — The final decision of the Court of Appeal in the Lyrica® litigation was handed down on 13 October 2016. This litigation, relating to the painkiller pregabalin marketed by Warner-Lambert for the treatment of pain under the name Lyrica®, has been keenly followed as the first detailed analysis of infringement of "second…
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