Intellectual Property Notes

Preparations for the UPC continue despite an "unpredictable environment"

The UPC Preparatory Committee has issued a “Status of the Unified Patent Court Project” statement and review of 2018, confirming that there …

Advocate General proposes literal interpretation of Article 3(d) SPC Regulation in Abraxis (C-443/17)

The Advocate General of the CJEU proposed a narrow interpretation of Article    3(d) in the Opinion given yesterday in Abraxis …

Patent and Pharma Update - December 2018

Italy moves the unitary patent a step closer

CJEU rules on whether the NHS reimbursing off-label medicinal products for cost-cutting purposes conflicts with Directive 2001/83/EC

Novartis Farma S.p.A. v Italian Medicines Agency and Roche Italia S.p.A. On 21 November 2018, the CJEU issued an important decision in Novartis Farma v …

French court upholds validity of MSD's SPC protecting ezetimibe and simvastatin in combination

A French Court has upheld the validity of a Supplementary Protection Certificate ("SPC") protecting the ezetimibe+simvastatin combination under Article …

Draft Withdrawal Agreement Approved by UK Cabinet - IP and Marketing Authorisation Provisions Summarised

As was widely reported yesterday evening, the Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the …

UK SUPREME COURT RAISES SUFFICIENCY STANDARD FOR SWISS-FORM CLAIMS AND LIMITS THE ABILITY TO ASSERT THEM AGAINST "SKINNY LABEL" PRODUCTS

Commercial impact Yesterday's Supreme Court decision in Warner-Lambert v Mylan is disappointing news for patentees who may have made significant …

THE COURT OF APPEAL MAKES FRIENDS WITH SEP HOLDERS

Unwired Planet International Limited v Huawei Technologies Co. Limited [2018] EWCA Civ 2344 The Court of Appeal has endorsed the approach taken by Birss …

France adopts a confidentiality regime for the trade secrets relied upon in (patent) litigation

As part of the French Law on the Protection of Trade Secrets dated 31 July 2018, French lawmakers have finally adopted a long-awaited array of …

Patent and Pharma Update - October 2018

Key recent developments in the United Kingdom and Europe relating to patents and the pharmaceutical sector The CJEU has provided its preliminary ruling …

EPO publishes 2018 revision of Guidelines for Examination directed to computer-implemented inventions

The EPO has recently published the 2018 revision to its Guidelines for Examination, which are generally updated annually to take into account …