Markush Formulae and SPCs

Markush Formulae and SPCs

Background According to Article 3(a) of the SPC Regulation (European Parliament and Council Regulation 469/2009/EC of 6 May 2009 concerning the supplementary protection certificate for medicinal products) an SPC shall be granted for a medicinal product if the product...
Arrow Declarations – Part III

Arrow Declarations – Part III

Background For more information on Arrow Declarations, please read Part I and Part II of this series of articles. In September 2016, Mr Justice Arnold refused to strike out Fujifilm’s request for an Arrow Declaration, at the request of AbbVie, based on bad faith...
Arrow Declarations – Part III

Arrow Declarations – Part II

Background Arrow Declarations are declarations regarding the validity of subject-matter (rather than specific patents) and provide accused infringers of legal certainty that their proposed activities will not fall within the scope of any valid patent that may be...
Changes to UK Patents Rules

Changes to UK Patents Rules

Changes effective 1 October 2016 Notification of intention to grant The UKIPO is to issue advance notification of grant in order to allow patent applicants the opportunity to file a divisional application without the need to recourse to the current practice of...
Arrow Declarations – Part III

Arrow Declarations

Arrow Declarations The term “Arrow Declaration” refers to a declaration that the subject-matter of an invention is not patentable.  The term stems from the case Arrow v Merck [2007] EWHC 1900 (Pat) where such a declaration was first issued.  Unlike...
UK exit from the EU

UK exit from the EU

The UK voted on 23 June 2016 to leave the EU. In the short term at least there will be no change with regards to any IP practice within Europe. Importantly no current rights will be lost and all rights, including patents and trade marks, will remain. Whatever the...