Life Sciences Actavis v Boehringer (C-577-13): What is the “sole” subject matter of an invention?On 12th March 2015, the CJEU handed down its judgment in the Actavis v Boehringer referral. This judgment deals with questions referred by the High Court of England and Wales that relate specifically to SPCs for combinations of active ingredients.Read More 12Mar2015 English courts tackle Swiss claims and off-label useThe English courts have recently considered a question pivotal to the perceived value of Swiss-type claims: to what extent can such claims be used to restrict off-label use where other uses of a drug are no longer protected by a patent?Read More 05Feb2015 Partial priority referred to the EPO’s Enlarged Board – an antidote to “toxic divisionals”?The EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal is to consider how to assess partial priority, in a decision that could signal the end of the controversial "toxic divisional" novelty attack.Read More 06Jan2015 Second medical use claims for devices – an uneven playing field?European patent law offers extra protection for pharmaceuticals that is not available for medical devices. Second medical use claims for pharmaceuticals are routinely accepted in Europe, whereas the same style of claim is generally not permissible for medical devices. Recent case law has seen a shift towards rewarding new uses for existing medical devices, but achieving such protection requires care during prosecution.Read More 30Oct2014 Extended protection for medical devices – a hot topic in the UKManufactures of medical devices are requesting an increasing number of patent term extensions in a bid to recover the cost of getting regulatory approval. Recent decisions show that the UK IPO is taking a strict approach when examining patent term extensions for medical devices, but there are still situations where extra protection might be available.Read More 21Aug2014 Patentable parthenotes? Advocate General says yesIn the latest development to the patentability of human stem cells, the AG has recommended that stem cells derived from parthenogenically activated oocytes should not be excluded from patentability any longer. The AG drew the distinction between totipotent and pluripotent cells, noting that cells that do not have the capacity to develop into a human being should not be excluded from patentability.Read More 31Jul2014 UK High Court makes sense of CJEU’s decision on interpretation of Article 3(a)In a pro-patentee judgment, the UK High Court suggests that SPCs can be based on most types of claim provided that the product which is the subject of the SPC falls within the scope of the claim.Read More 29Jul2014 Should High stay, for EPO? Actavis and Pharmacia clash in the High CourtMr Justice Arnold in the Patents Court of the High Court of England and Wales (the ‘Patents Court’) initially refused a request by the patentee, Pharmacia, for a stay of UK revocation proceedings brought by Actavis, pending the outcome of opposition proceedings at the EPO based on three undertakings.Read More 24Jul2014 Changes to searches on applications entering Europe via the PCTAs of 1st November 2014, the EPO is changing the way it searches PCT applications entering the European regional phase which are considered to relate to more than one invention. These changes will result in increased flexibility for the applicant and should help to reduce the likelihood of encountering unexpected costs.Read More 14Jul2014 Patchy report from a gynaecology conference is enough to stop morning after pill patentThe UK’s High Court has decided that Richter Gedeon’s patent for a single dose of the emergency contraceptive levonorgestrel is invalid in view of a report published a few months before the priority date revealing the preliminary results from an incomplete study of the drugRead More 12Jun2014<1…19202122232425> Type Firm News Insights PodcastsServiceProtectDealDisputeSectorHealthcare+Energy+Life SciencesChemistryMaterialsEngineeringTechCreativeArchive2025DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2024DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2023DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2022DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2021DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2020DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2019DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2018DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2017DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2016DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2015DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2014DecemberNovemberOctoberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2013DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchJanuary2012NovemberJulyJuneMayAprilFebruaryJanuary
