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.