Objections to the unitary patent dismissed by Court of Justice but obstacles still in the path of the unified patent system *

European Union - April 16 2013
In a decision in Joined cases C-274/11 and C-295/11 Spain and Italy v Council, published today, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has…

Co-authors: Alex Freelove, Rachel Montagnon.

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GSK v Comptroller - reference to the CJEU - can an adjuvant be the subject of an SPC? *

United Kingdom - March 26 2013
The Patents Court of England & Wales has requested that the CJEU clarifies the meaning of "product" in the SPC Regulation (Regulation 469/2009). In…

Co-authors: Jonathan Turnbull.

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Onwards and up-wards – the European unitary patent and Unified Patent Court march closer to reality *

European Union - December 11 2012
The AG's Opinion, if followed by the CJEU, would remove the barrier Spain and Italy attempted to raise to the unitary patent entering into force across the 25 member states which approved the use of the enhanced cooperation procedure to implement the measure

Co-authors: Rachel Montagnon.

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ECJ ruling dismisses AstraZeneca's appeal in abuse of dominance case *

European Union - December 6 2012
The Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) has dismissed AstraZeneca's appeal against the Commission's and General Court's findings that the company abused its dominant position under Article 102 TFEU by misusing the patent system and pharmaceutical marketing procedures in order to exclude generic competitors to its ulcer drug Losec from the market and to restrict parallel imports of the drug (Case C-457/10P).

Co-authors: Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Stephen Wisking, Susan Black, Kristien Geeurickx.

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The CJEU opens the door for SPCs for new medical uses of known compounds *

United Kingdom - July 20 2012
Yesterday the CJEU handed down its decision in the eagerly awaited reference Neurim Pharmaceuticals v The Comptroller General of Patents concerning the possibility of obtaining an SPC based on a marketing authorisation ("MA"), where there has been an earlier MA for the same product but for a different use.

Co-authors: Rosie Patterson.

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