We are pleased to announce that our Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC) Summer Review has been published in the most recent editions of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) Journal (July/August edition pg. 27, September edition pg. 19).

The past year has seen several interesting developments for SPCs in Europe. There has been new case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and there have been several important decisions from the national courts and patent offices.

The July-August edition of the CIPA Journal summarises the key judgments since our last review in Summer 2016, arranging them within broader topics that have been exercising SPC practitioners over the years.

These issues include:

When does a patent “protect” an active ingredient?

What happens if a marketing authorisation has not been issued by the time the basic patent expires?

What scope of protection is provided by an SPC in the biologics field?

In the September edition of the CIPA Journal we consider whether an SPC’s term can be corrected after grant, and whether the specific mechanism works differently for SPCs compared to patents. We also look ahead at plans for SPCs in the much-delayed UP/UPC environment, and also at the EU Commission’s review into whether it is time to overhaul the SPC system in its entirety.

Please contact our marketing department if you would like to find out more information about our SPC Summer Review. To subscribe to the CIPA Journal please contact CIPA.