A recently published ruling of the Presidium of the Court for Intellectual Rights may turn the issue of cascading divisional applications upside down and endanger many patents granted on such applications. Background A divisional patent application is a separate one that is derived from an initial (parent) application. The necessity of filing such a divisional…

Since 29.04.2023, new Russian Patent Requirements (the Requirements) have been in force.  These include several amendments compared to the previous version of the requirements, including an amended provision on the rules for unity of invention. Clause 2 of the previous requirements stipulated that the requirement of unity of invention in relation to a claimed group…

His Honour Judge Hacon handed down judgment in AutoStore v Ocado on 30 March 2023.  The case was atypical in that it had a split trial: the first part of the trial considered whether AutoStore’s patents (EP 794 and EP 027) were rendered invalid by prior disclosures made in Russia, the second part considered “technical…

Since the Eurasian Patent Convention was signed in 1994 it has been shaping the global IP landscape. In the 25 years 22.700 Eurasian patents were granted at the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO).  Recently Eurasia expanded the activities to include the applications of industrial designs and although it is not yet possible to file Eurasian trademarks,…

On 18 October 2021, the Russian IP Court rendered the decision in Geropharm vs. Novo Nordisk. While dismissing the claims, the IP Court has given the green light to a new legal mechanism of challenging a Patent Term Extension (‘PTE’) and Supplementary Protection Certificate (‘SPC’). It used to be problematic for generic companies to meet…

Legal Basis The legal basis for compulsory licensing in Russia flows from Articles 1360 and 1362 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Civil Code). Article 1360 of the Civil Code allows the Russian Government to grant permission to the use of a patented invention in the interest of defense and national security. Such…

On 1 March 2021, the Eurasian Patent Office launched the Pharmaceutical Register , covering 8 jurisdictions, including Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan A demo-version is available on the official website of EAPO.   The new Register contains information on Eurasian patents protecting active substances of drugs. The EAPO specifically indicates that the Pharmaceutical Register shall relate to…

At the beginning of the year, the Russian Government granted the first compulsory license on a series of Big Pharma’s patents.  For the first time ever, “public security” clause has been evoked. According to the Decree 3718-r, Pharmasintez JSC, a Russian generic company, has been granted a 1-year compulsory license to use Gilead’s patents protecting…

Russian law provides that information on state registration of drugs shall be publicly available. For a long period, MoH used to turn a blind eye to this obligation, keeping information on all filed applications confidential. Absence of this information used to pose additional risks for patent holders lacking information on the upcoming launches of generic…

In a precedent case before the Russian Intellectual Property Court, the judges pointed out that mere registration of a generic drug long before the patent expiry may constitute a threat of infringement that is prohibited under domestic law. This position in this case may result in an extra defense against unfair registrations. On 24 April 2018,…