12
Dec 19
Pharmaceutical trademarks: the proof of genuine use and proper reason for non-use
In its decision issued on 3 July 2019 in Viridis, Case C-668/17 (the “Decision”), the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled that the lengthy time necessary to complete a clinical drug trial is not a proper reason to prevent the prematurely registered trademark from being revoked for non-use.
8
Jun 19
The EU Court of Justice holds that colluding to disseminate information constitute a restriction of competition “by object” (Roche / Novartis)
On January 23rd, 2018, the ECJ delivered its preliminary ruling on the Roche/Novartis v. Commission case (C-179/16), concerning the compatibility of an agreement entered into between Roche and Novartis with Article 101 TFEU.
9
Apr 19
EU General Court provides guidance to assess whether patent settlements between originator and generics infringe antitrust law (Servier)
On 12 December 2018 the General Court of the EU (“GC”) has passed a set of parallel judgments (we will referrer to Case T-691/14,Servier and Others v. Commission and Case T-684/144,Krka v. Commission) on the incompatibility with Article 101 TFEU of a number of settlement agreements in patent disputes between Servier, which is the originator of Perindopril (a drug primarily intended for the treatment of hypertension and heart failure), and five manufacturers of that drug’s generic versions.
7
Apr 19
Supplementary protection certificates: clarifications from the EU Court of Justice
In its judgment on Case C-443/17 of March 21, 2019, the European Court of Justice ruled on a significant patent issue following a preliminary ruling under Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) from the High Court of Justice (England & Wales).
8
Feb 19
Using medicinal product trademarks in clinical trials prior to marketing authorization does not amount to genuine use, states advocate general szpunar
On January 9, 2019, Advocate General (AG) of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) Maciej Szpunar gave his opinion on case C-668/17 (“Opinion”), a trademark dispute that, while focusing on medicinal products, raised two other far-reaching issues concerning the scope and definition of the requirement of genuine use within the provisions of Article 58 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 14, 2017 on the European Union trade mark (“EUTMR”).
3
Dec 17
CJEU and SPCs: a never-ending story
The work of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Regulation (EC) No. 469/2009 (Regulation), on supplementary protection certificates for medicinal products (SPCs), has been quite intense in the last few years, and it still is, given that in the pharmaceutical sector even one more day of exclusivity can be worth millions of euros, so fighting for it is certainly worth the investment of time and money.
