In my earlier posts (here and here) I reported and commented on the first two phases of the Italian Pfizer antitrust case, in which the Italian Antitrust Authority (IAA) accused Pfizer of having abused of a dominant position by judicially enforcing patent rights against generic latanoprost in the Italian Courts. A small but potentially meaningful…
In an earlier post, I reported the news that a new piece of legislation (the so called “Balduzzi Decree”, Law No. 189/12 of 8 November 2012 confirming Law Decree 158/12 of 13 September 2012 – a consolidated version of the Decree is available here) introduced a rule which some have already labelled as “reimbursement price…
By decision of 21 February 2013, the Court of Turin clarified the test for prima facie case in search proceedings and the test for urgency in search proceedings and preliminary proceedings in general. In the case at issue, 4B-Four Bind had obtained an ex-parte search order aimed at inspecting post-print binding machines of competitor KGS,…
In one of my earlier posts I gave the news that, after years of uncertainty as to the admissibility of interlocutory (pre trial) declaratory judgements of non infringement in IP cases (here), the amendments introduced to the Italian IP Code in 2010 made it clear that such proceedings are admissible as now explicitly contemplated by…
By order of 16 October 2012 in Sperotto v. Bolpagni , the Court of Turin stated, in line with a few other of its recent decisions, that patent infringement ordinary proceedings (even if including a cross-claim of revocation) must be stayed until the conclusion of EPO opposition proceedings pending on the allegedly infringed patent, in application…
On 11 December 2012 Advocate General Yves Bot delivered his conclusions on the complaints brought by Italy and Spain against the Coucil’s decision to proceed through enhanced cooperation to the adoption of the unitary patent regulation, and proposed the CJEU to reject the complaints. As many will remember, the discussions on the adoption of the…
Recently approved “Balduzzi Decree” (Law No. 189/12 of 8 November 2012 (confirming Law Decree 158/12 of 13 September 2012 – a consolidated version of the Decree is available here) seems to have changed quite a lot in terms of the protection of pharmaceutical patents in Italy, making it totally Inconvenient for generics to launch at…
A patent can be re-assigned to the legitimate rights holder based on a claim of entitlement under Article 118 Italian IP Code, even when the patented subject matter differs from the invention made by the legitimate rights holder, when such differences do not involve an inventive step. A summary of this case will be posted…
On 3 September 2012, the Adminstrative Court decision in the Italian antitrust case involving Pfizer was published. This decision completely reversed the ruling of the Italian Antitrust Authority which had initially found Pfizer guilty of abuse of dominant position and applied a 10.6 million euro fine (see my earlier post here). In substance, the Administrative…
By ruling of 10 July 2012, the Court of Turin decided in the first instance an infringement action filed by Italian company Novamont against German and French companies Biotec and Biosphère, for the alleged infringement of three Novamont patents concerning starch based plastic materials used in the production of biodegradable shoppers. The Court denied the…
