Rivastigmine patent, SPC confirmed invalid on appeal

Yesterday, in Novartis AG v Generics (UK)Ltd t/a Mylan [2012] EWCA Civ 1623 CA (Civ Div), a three-man Court of Appeal for England and Wales consisting of Lords Justices Munby, Lewison and Kitchin dismissed Novartis's appeal against the decision of Mr Justice Floyd (noted here on The SPC Blog) that Novartis's Rivastigmine patent and SPC were invalid.

The main focus of the appeal was not specifically related to the law or practice with regard to SPCs, but rather to whether the trial judge had taken the correct approach to the question of inventive step. An analysis of the Court of Appeal's reasoning on this point has been written for the IPKat weblog by David Brophy (FR Kelly), here.