(Compulsory) license, (Indirect) infringement, Biologics, EPC, France

(Véron & Associés)/

On 8 October 2010, the Cour d’Appel of Paris rendered a interesting decision about the interpretation of the wording of one of the settlement agreements which have been concluded between Institut Pasteur and the American health authority (DHHS/NIH) in order to put an end to the various disputes which opposed them concerning the paternity of the HIV-1/VIH retrovirus’ discovery and the patents relating thereto. The question at stake was to determine if a gp 110 protein was the subject-matter of the said settlement agreement so that Abbott, as a sublicensee of the NIH, could validly exploit in France that gp 110 protein in its detecting kits. Otherwise Abbott would have been an infringer of the Institut Pasteur’s European patents.

Added matter, Netherlands

(Brinkhof)/ /1 Comment

Yesterday the Dutch Court of Appeal closed ranks with six out of nine jurisdictions in which the European Central Bank (ECB) started nullity actions against Document Security Systems’ (DSS) patent related to anti-forgery measures (EP 455 750). The Dutch Court of Appeal revoked the patent for added matter over the application as originally filed. The…

Spain

(Clifford Chance)/

On 3 August 2007 and 5 December 2007, Commercial Court Number 1 of Barcelona ordered a preliminary injunction preventing the launch of all the generics of a well-known medicament used to treat schizophrenia. Also, for the purpose of maintaining the status quo, the Court ordered for the judgment be notified to the Ministry of Health…

Italy

(Trevisan & Cuonzo)/ /2 Comments

I have already written about the investigation launched last October by the Italian antitrust authority (AGCM) on an alleged abuse of a dominant position by Pfizer in relation to the manner in which Pfizer enforced or attempted to enforce its patent rights. Well, this is actually the first case of this type in Italy, but…

Germany, Injunction

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The Appeal Court Karlsruhe has recently issued a judgement in a preliminary injunction proceeding. Plaintiff has sought to obtain a confirmation of the first instance’s judgement. Defendant had filed the appeal against the judgement by which he had been ordered to cease and desist from producing, offering and marketing the patent infringing devices after the…

France, Injunction, SPC

(Véron & Associés)/

The holder of a SPC fearing that competitors submit before the expiry of its title a tender in response to invitations to tender, for a products’ supply after the expiry of the title, requested an interlocutory injunction to prevent an imminent infringement. Therefore, by three orders issued on 19 August 2010, the Judge in preliminary proceedings at the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris deals with two important questions, already known by other courts in Europe: which elements can characterise the imminence of the infringement? is an offer formulated during the validity of the title an infringement although the supply of the products at issue would take place after the expiry of the title?

(Indirect) infringement, Case Law, France, Novelty, Priority right, Sufficiency of disclosure

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This judgement is one of many issued in the worldwide litigation pending between Novartis and Johnson & Johnson concerning Novartis’ patent for ophthalmically compatible extended wear contact lenses. The decision contains a recapitulation of all possible grounds for invalidity of a patent. The Court rejected the detailed claims of invalidity for lack of sufficiency, dealt…