The Advocate General of the CJEU proposed a narrow interpretation of Article    3(d) in the Opinion given yesterday in Abraxis Bioscience LLC v Comptroller General of Patents 13 December 2018, one that would marginalise the effect of the CJEU's decision in… Read more

Key recent developments in the United Kingdom and Europe relating to patents and the pharmaceutical sector This issue reports on several ground-breaking decisions from the UK courts on second medical use patents and skinny labels, infringement by equivalents and the… Read more

The Italian Government approved a draft Bill on 21 November 2018 aimed at adapting the Italian IP Code to the Unitary Patent Regulation (EU 1257/2012) and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement. The next step before the Bill is passed… Read more

Novartis Farma S.p.A. v Italian Medicines Agency and Roche Italia S.p.A. On 21 November 2018, the CJEU issued an important decision in Novartis Farma v Italian Medicines Agency and Roche Italia et al. (C-29/17). The case was referred to the… Read more

The latest tranche of "no deal" technical notices was released yesterday afternoon by the UK Government. Amongst them are several notices that highlight the Brexit issues faced by intellectual property right owners and, in some cases, confirm the Government's approach to resolving them. The… Read more

In the second reading of the Digital Copyright Directive by the European Parliament on 12 September 2018, the controversial Articles 11 and 13 were adopted but with amendments. These articles provide for: a specific right of digital reproduction for the press in relation to… Read more

On 24 July Bulgaria ratified the Protocol on Provisional Application of the UPC Agreement (Protocol). Four more ratifications/declarations are needed, including Germany, for the Protocol to come into effect and allow the practical workings of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) to… Read more

On 25 July 2018, Advocate General Wathelet issued his opinion in an interesting case pending before the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) (C-310/17) concerning copyright over the taste of a food product. The AG took the view that… Read more

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has today delivered its decision on the interpretation of Article 3(a) SPC Regulation in Case C-121/17 Teva v Gilead. The CJEU has said that in the case of an SPC for… Read more

Italian Legislative Decree 63 - 11 May 2018, implementing Directive (EU) 2016/943 on trade secrets, entered into force on 22 June 2018. The Italian legal system was already at the forefront of trade secret protection, affording twenty years' protection to… Read more

Key recent developments in the United Kingdom and Europe relating to patents and the pharmaceutical sector English courts begin to consider the new Doctrine of Equivalents as applied by the Supreme Court in Actavis v Lilly, and continue to accept… Read more

The European Commission issued a proposal on 28 May 2018 to change the rules around Supplementary Protection Certificates (Regulation (EC) 469/2009), which if approved will substantially impact patent rights in the pharmaceutical sector. Before being launched on a European market,… Read more

Advocate General Wathelet (the "AG") has provided his opinion to the Court of Justice of the European Union (the "CJEU") on the interpretation of Article 3(a) SPC Regulation (Case C-121/17 Teva v Gilead). In doing so, the AG rejected the… Read more

Certain geographical indications ("GIs") are protected by EU Regulation 110/2008/EC, which aims to ensure that use of such indications is to identify a spirit drink as originating within a certain territory where a given characteristic is attributable to its geographical… Read more