On December 23, the Brussels Enterprises Court issued a significant judgment confirming that Samsung Bioepis’ notification complies with the legal requirements for relying on the SPC Manufacturing Waiver for export purposes, dismissing claims brought by Amgen on multiple fronts (Dutch language judgment here and English machine translation here). It is the first judgment on the…
In July 2023, the Japanese electronics company Panasonic initiated a series of patent infringement and FRAND-related proceedings against several subsidiaries of the Chinese consumer electronics maker Oppo (and in parallel against another Chinese company, i.e. Xiaomi), at the local divisions of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) in Mannheim and Munich (*). Panasonic’s suit targeted Oppo…
On 30 October 2024, the District Court of the Hague handed down two merits decisions on the widely litigated apixaban patent of Bristol-Myers Squibb (see here and here – Dutch language versions). EP 1 427 415 B1 (EP 415), which lapsed in 2022, and the corresponding supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) have been subject to litigation…
Like Prudence the heroine of Amours à l’Italienne (Rome Adventure in English), UPC local division of Mannheim gives us a lesson of polyamory with the first UPC FRAND decision (November, 22, 2024, Panasonic v. Oppo), in which the Court reminds us of its Love for EU Law (and CJEU case law), but also, and above…
It’s this time of the year again – merry Christmas, happy holidays and/or best wishes for whatever you are celebrating next week. This year’s Christmas present comes from the CJEU and is specifically directed to the SPC Community. It’s the decision in the joint cases C-119/22 and C-149/22. The decision has every potential to bring…
The eagerly awaited CJEU decision on the two joined referrals Teva v. MSD (C-119/22) and MSD v. Clonmel (C-149/22) relating to SPCs for combination products was handed down today on December 19, 2024. The two referrals arose from national litigation involving SPCs for a combination of active ingredients, i.e., the combination of sitagliptin and metformin…
As we are approaching the holiday season, Sweden has a special gift for SPC applicants and proprietors. This comes in the wake of the recent decision PMÄ 7804-24 of November 11, 2024, in which the Swedish Patent and Market Court endorsed a change of practice regarding the manner in which the SPC term is calculated….
Many thanks to all of the entrants to the UPC Christmas quiz – a number of the entries scored 100%. Of all of these top scoring entries, we have selected one winner at random….. Alexander Jamnišek. Many congratulations! We will be in touch shortly to arrange delivery of your copy of The Unitary Patent and…
Although plastics are essential to the economy, plastic pollution is threatening ecosystems all over the planet. Plastic waste remains in the environment, taking from decades to centuries to naturally decompose. In addition, plastic materials also degrade, producing small particles, which are not visible to the human eye, leading to the terms “microplastic” and “nanoplastic”. Microplastics…
UPDATE on December 24: The Brazilian PTO issued Ordinance Nº 26/2024, introducing critical updates to the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program under Phase V, the so called Global PPH (GPPH) adhesion, set to begin on January 1, 2025. Among these changes is a restriction that excludes patents classified under IPC H04 (Telecommunications) from the PPH…
