Enforcement

A patent is a right to prohibit others to practice the invention claimed in the patent. A patent holder can enforce this right against third parties to – in the words of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) – ‘prevent further infringement and recover the losses incurred from any actual infringement.’

CJEU, Damages, Enforcement, Generics, Infringement, Injunction, Litigation, Patents, Pharma, Pharmaceutical patent, Sweden

(Gulliksson)/ /2 Comments

Introduction A key mechanism in patent litigation and specifically for generics is the concept of “launch at risk”. In short the concept means that a product is launched prior to the expiry of a patent despite the risk that the patent proprietor in such case could initiate infringement proceedings which often includes requests for a…

Enforcement, evidence, Inventive step, Litigation, Novelty, Patents, Pharma, Pharmaceutical patent, Plausibility, Prior art, Revocation, Second Medical Use, Sufficiency of disclosure, United Kingdom, Validity

, (Bristows)/

On 4 December 2020, the English Patents Court handed down its decision in Neurim Pharmaceuticals (1991) Limited & Flynn Pharma Limited v Generics UK Limited (t/a Mylan) & Mylan UK Healthcare Limited, the main action proceedings regarding Neurim’s patent for Circadin™, EP 1 441 702 (“EP 702”).  The judgment is available here. Many readers will…

(Cross-border) jurisdiction, (Indirect) infringement, Enforcement, Infringement, Injunction, Litigation, Netherlands, Procedure, SPC

(Brinkhof)/ /1 Comment

In his (or her) younger years at school, a once to be Dutch patent litigator was learned that the Netherlands share a borders with Germany and Belgium. On the geography maps, they seemed to be set in stone. History class already provided a different perspective: now friendly neighbours would once surprise each other with unannounced…

Case Law, Enforcement, Infringement, Litigation, Patents, Procedure, Revocation, Sufficiency of disclosure, United Kingdom, Validity

(Bristows)/

On 9 October 2019, the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against the finding that a patent directed towards ceramic compounds was sufficient and allowed two procedural appeals on issues of liability. Anan Kasei and Rhodia (“Rhodia”) are respectively the proprietor and exclusive licensee of a patent for ceric oxide compounds for use in catalytic…

CJEU, Enforcement, European Union, Hungary, Injunction

(Danubia Legal)/

The injunction gap is a frequently discussed characteristic of those European jurisdictions, Hungary being one such country, whose  patent litigation systems are bifurcated. In a preliminary injunction proceeding in Hungary the court does not assess the validity of the patent in suit, at least not simply at the level of arguments, although decisions on invalidity…

Brexit, Enforcement, Germany, Infringement, Litigation, Procedure, United Kingdom

(Rospatt Osten Pross)/ /3 Comments

It seems to be a more and more realistic scenario that the UK may leave the European Union on March 29, 2019 without an agreement. A lot has been written about the effect of such a “hard Brexit” on trade in general and –more interesting to us working in the patent field- on the future…

Enforcement, Injunction, Litigation, Patents, Pharma, Pharmaceutical patent, SPC, Switzerland, Validity

(MLL Legal Ltd.)/

In a decision issued this summer, the Swiss Federal Patent Court had the opportunity to comment on the catalogue of grounds for invalidity which can be brought against a Swiss SPC. The Federal Patent Court issued a PI based on Genzyme Corporation’s Swiss SPC for sevelamer, although it was unclear whether the Swiss Institute of…

Amendments, China, Enforcement, Inventive step, Novelty, Pharmaceutical patent, Prior art, Scope of protection

(Baker & McKenzie), (Zy Partners), and (ZY Partners)/

A Markush claim is a type of claim commonly used in chemical and pharmaceutical fields. On December 20, 2017, in Beijing Winsunny Harmony Science & Technology Co., Ltd. v. Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd, (“Daiichi Sankyo Case”), the Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) resolved a long standing-split among Chinese courts regarding the interpretation and amendment of Markush…

Enforcement, Infringement, Injunction, Netherlands

(Brinkhof )/ /1 Comment

Other than ex parte (evidentiary) seizures, ex parte preliminary injunctions are considered a rare phenomenon in the field of patent law in the Netherlands. The burden for obtaining an ex parte injunction is high and the allegedly infringing party could have filed a protective letter. Very recently the Dutch patent court in The Hague has…