A niche blog dedicated to the issues that arise when supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) extend patents beyond their normal life -- and to the respective positions of patent owners, investors, competitors and consumers. The blog also addresses wider issues that may be of interest or use to those involved in the extension of patent rights. You can email The SPC Blog here

Monday 12 November 2012

Actavis CJEU reference: your comments are invited

A few weeks ago The SPC Blog posted this item on Actavis Group PTC EHF & another v Sanofi Pharma Bristol-Myers Squibb SNC [2012] EWHC 2545 (Pat), another case in which the Patents Court, England and Wales, decided to make a reference to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling.

The reference is now Case C-443/12 and the two questions posed are confirmed as being as follows:
"1. What are the criteria for deciding whether "the product is protected by a basic patent in force" in Article 3(a) of Regulation 469/2009/EC ("the Regulation")?

2. In a situation in which multiple products are protected by a basic patent in force, does the Regulation, and in particular Article 3(c), preclude the proprietor of the patent being issued a certificate for each of the products protected?"
If you would like to send a comment to the UK Intellectual Property Office on this case, which might result in the UK making representations to the court, please email policy@ipo.gsi.gov.uk by 16 November 2012.

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