6
Feb 20
Tender for the supply of medicine based on a patented active ingredient: a legal profile
With judgment No. 29 of January 9, 2020, the Administrative Court of the Piemonte region issued a ruling in the lawsuit brought by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) against the Piemonte region purchasing body and the region (the contracting authority).
5
Jun 19
Breaking news on the supplementary protective certificate for medicinal products
On June 11, 2019, Regulation (EU) 2019/933 (“Regulation 2019/933”), amending Regulation (EC) No 2009/469 (“Regulation 2009/469”) concerning the supplementary protection certificate (“SPC”) for medicinal products, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
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.
6
Apr 19
The Court of Milan on the urgent protection of patents infringed by products sold under the framework of a public tender
In an urgent proceeding before the Court of Milan, the claimant, licensee of the European patent 1089726B1 (correspondent to the Italian patent IT 99930567.5) relating to a food supplement essentially composed of HMB, arginine and glutamine, requested the court grant an injunction against the alleged infringer.
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”).
1
Feb 19
The European Parliament legal affairs committee votes in favor of a comprehensive SPC manufacturing waiver
In May 2016, the European Parliament, in its Resolution on the Single Market Strategy, endorsed the need for changes to the EU supplementary protection certificate (“SPC”) and urged the Commission to introduce and implement an SPC manufacturing waiver before 2019, without undermining the market exclusivity granted under the SPC in the protected markets.
