Institut Pasteur is the holder of European patent No. 0 178 978 entitled “Cloned DNA sequences, hybridizable with genomic RNA of “lymphadenopathy-associated virus (LAV)””, granted on 6 February 1991…
The torrent of UK cases concerning applications for supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) shows no sign of abating. Following the reference from the Court of Appeal in June to the CJEU in…
The European Court of Justice held that Article 9 of the Biotech Directive (98/44/EC) does not confer patent protection to genetic information that does not (anymore) perform its function for which…
Sufficiency of disclosure is one of the requirements for the grant of a European patent (Art. 83 EPC). The disclosure in a patent specification shall enable the skilled person to apply the invention,…
By decision no. 6967/2009 of 14 May 2009, the IP Chamber of the Court of Milan found for the invalidity of a patent claiming the second medical use of a known pharmaceutical product for lack of…
On 18 June 2009 the IP Chamber of the Milan Court issued its official interpretation on whether the filing of an MA application for a generic drug when the patent is still in force results an act of…
According to the Advocate General Article 9 of the Biotechnology Directive does not limit the scope of protection of patents for biotechnology inventions. Nonetheless protection for DNA sequences as…
Whether patent holders marketing branded drugs may assume that the very act of filing of an MA application by generic companies result in patent infringement is one of the hottest issues at the…
The Enlarged Board of Appeal answers three questions of law as follows:
Question 1: Where it is already known to use a medicament to treat an illness, Article 54(5) EPC does not exclude that this…
