A recently published Decision of 9 November 2018 from Barcelona Commercial Court number 5 sheds some light on the indicia that may or may not be sufficient for the purposes of ordering a preliminary injunction “ex parte”. For the readers’ benefit, it will be useful to clarify that under Spanish law, one of the requirements…

The Higher Regional Court of Vienna confirmed the three-factor Bicalutamid/Schneidmesser Test, holding that a variant is equivalent to an invention for the purposes of infringement if the following conditions apply cumulatively: 1 The modified embodiment solves the problem using modified, but objectively equivalent means (equivalent effect); 2 The person skilled in the art is able…

A new trial was granted so a manufacturer accused of infringing the patent can challenge its validity by presenting additional obviousness theories that the district court should not have disallowed. Case date: 29 March 2019 Case number: No. 17-2507 Court: United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit A full summary of this case has been published…

The Higher Regional Court of Vienna confirmed that the “second medical use” of an already known substance, as required for patent protection, can be that the substance is used for a specific group of patients with specific effects. Case date: 11 May 2017 Case number: 34R113/16m Court: Higher Regional Court of Vienna A full summary of…

The decision of the Administrative Council of the EPO to refer to the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) decision T 1063/18 on the patentability of plants obtained by essentially biological processes has been criticized from various sides. A week ago, during the 159th meeting of the EPO Administrative Council, president António Campinos said his referral of…

The UK Supreme Court today handed down its decision in Actavis v ICOS. The decision was unanimous, with Lord Hodge giving the only judgment. The case concerns two principal questions. First, how the test for obviousness applies to a dosage patent; and secondly, whether the Court of Appeal was entitled to reverse the judgment of…

The Supreme Court held that the mandatory arbitration court provided for litigation between patent holders and applicants for generic medicines does not have jurisdiction to decide, inter partes and incidenter tantum, the validity of a patent. The right of defence of the generic applicant is not disproportionally restricted because they can challenge the validity of…

In a post yesterday our colleagues at Vossius commented on the CJEU’s decision, which had just been handed down in Abraxis*. As Vossius have explained, although the decision appears to give clarity for new formulations of old products, it remains unclear as to how this can be reconciled with Neurim, which was not overturned. In…