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”).
7
Feb 19
New law to settle the long-lasting dispute on the pharmaceutical payback for 2013-2017
On February 11, 2019, Italian Law no. 12/2019 was published in the Official Gazette of Italy, converting into law, with amendments, Italian Law Decree no. 135 of December 14, 2018 (also called the Simplifications Decree) aimed at simplifying certain administrative responsibilities for both private and public entities.
6
Feb 19
No deal brexit’s impact on the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries: guidance from the ema and the european commission
On January 15, 2019, the UK House of Commons rejected the withdrawal agreement reached by Theresa May and the EU after a long and exhausting negotiation period of almost 2 years.
EMA has launched a public consultation on key principles for the electronic product information of EU medicines
3
Nov 17
Published the new ministerial decree on compassionate use of medicinal products
On 7 September 2017, the Italian Ministry of Health issued a new decree on compassionate use of medicinal products (“Decree”) that, starting from 2 December 2017, will replace the previous ministerial decree of 8 May 2003.
4
Sep 17
The European Commission keeps targeting certain patent settlements between pharma companies as anticompetitive agreements: Cephalon and Teva formally accused of “pay-for-delay” in relation to a settlement the parties concluded in 2005
On July 17, 2017 Margrethe Vestagher, the head of antitrust at the European Commission (“Commission”), announced that its services sent a “statement of objections”[1] to the US-based originator company Cephalon Inc (Cephalon) and the Israeli generic company Teva Pharmaceutical Industry Ltd (Teva), accusing the two firms of infringing Article 101 of the TFEU (which prohibits anticompetitive agreements between independent undertakings) when they entered into a patent settlement agreement that, allegedly, had the objective of delaying the marketing in the EEA of a generic version of modafinil – a blockbuster drug for sleep disorders – despite the relevant patents had expired.