Patents

(Bugge Valentin)/ /Leave a comment

Article 9(4) of Directive 2004/48/EC obliges Member States to ensure that courts may issue provisional measures, including injunctions, without giving prior notice to the defendant in certain circumstances. This applies, in particular, when a delay is likely to result in irreparable harm to the rights holder, or when there may be a real risk that…

FRAND, Patents, SEP, UPC

(Dhenne Avocats)/ /Leave a comment

Much like Black Sabbath’s iconic track “Paranoid”—an anthem whose unsettling riffs once left skeptics bewildered—I find myself contemplating the equally discordant landscape of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs). As someone known for my passion for both music and the intricacies of patent law, I see uncanny parallels between the dissonant chords of early heavy metal and…

Injunction, Litigation, Pharmaceutical patent, United Kingdom, Validity

(Bristows)/ /Leave a comment

In the UK, as well as in many other countries, being the first to market with a generic or biosimilar to a leading branded medicine is a critical strategy that can offer a major advantage to a company in a highly competitive landscape.  Being the first company to launch a generic product has several advantages. …

(Indirect) infringement, Infringement, Injunction, Patents, TRIPS, TRIPs Agreement, UPC

, (Bristows)/

As is well known in the life sciences community in Europe, both the Commission and the Parliament have proposed reforms to the Medicines Directive which, if implemented, would serve to broaden the ambit of the Bolar exemption in the European Union.  It is understood that the European Council is now considering these reforms and it…

Case Law, FRAND, SEP, Technology

(City, University of London) and (BPP Law School)/

Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) are at the heart of global technology markets, particularly in 4G/5G communications. While SEPs ensure interoperability, they also raise significant licensing challenges. As is known, to curb potential abuses, SEP holders must commit to licensing their patents on FRAND terms. However, determining what qualifies as “fair” and “reasonable” remains contentious. This…

FRAND, UPC

(Dhenne Avocats)/

“I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” U2’s iconic lyric might capture how patent holders feel when an anti-suit injunction (ASI) from a foreign court threatens to derail enforcement in Europe. Rather than yielding, European courts often respond with a swift countermeasure: the anti-anti-suit injunction (AASI). An AASI prevents litigants from seeking or enforcing…

Case Law, EPC, Patents, Unitary Patent, UPC, Validity

(Hoffmann Eitle)/

G 1/24 addresses the extent to which the description can be used to interpret the claims. As previously discussed, it looks set to be one of the most consequential EPO decisions of the decade. The hearing in G 1/24 took place on 28 March, with the opponent advocating a new “diamond standard” that the “description…

China, European Union, FRAND, SEP

(City, University of London) and (Parma University, IP Law Galli)/

Back in January 2025, the EU initiated consultations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to challenge the practice of Chinese courts to unilaterally set binding global royalty rates for non-Chinese standard essential patents (SEPs) without the consent of the parties to the litigation. According to the EU Commission press release, this unfairly pressures European high-tech…

Antibodies, Biologics, EPC, EPC, EPO, Inventive step, Pharmaceutical patent, Validity

(Bristows)/ /1 Comment

On 9 January 2025 I reported on Parts 1 and 2 of a three-part article in EPI Information by Tamaris Bucher, a Principal Patent Attorney at Novartis Pharma AG, on the current approach to antibody patents at the EPO. In Parts 1 and 2, Bucher argued that Part G.II.6.2 of the EPO Guidelines, which starts…