Patents

Recent Articles

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  13/06/2024

  Europe

  What’s in a name? The use of a product code in a clinical trial protocol fails to circumvent clinical trial prior art

  The use of product or sponsor codes in clinical trial related documents is common practice in the pharmaceutical space. However, such codes may not always be sufficient to disregard a publication as relevant prior art against patent claims.In recent decision T 1255/21, the EPO Board of Appeal finds that the use of a product code or sponsor code for a compound or composition in a clinical trial protocol does not affect the status of the protocol as prior art if the skilled person would have been able to identify the compound or composition based on the description of the components of the product...

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  04/06/2024

  China

  China’s market regulator announces top ten IP infringements of 2023

  On 10 May 2024, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced the top ten typical cases of intellectual property (IP) enforcement for 2023, which encompassed a range of illegal activities, including the production and sale of counterfeit branded automobile glass, the illicit manufacture and sale of fake cosmetics, the sale of tea infringing upon the “中茶” tea brand registered trademark, the infringement of “DENSO” and “TOYOTA” trademarks, the sale of goods bearing the counterfeit "FION" trademark, and the sale of counterfeit...

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  16/05/2024

  Europe

  A broader interpretation of "substance or composition" - good news for patentees at the EPO?

  A recent decision from the EPO Boards of Appeal (T 1252/20) potentially paves the way for more diverse products to be patentable in Europe using the medical use claim format.The background:Article 53(c) of the European Patent Convention (EPC) excludes methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy and diagnostic methods practised on the human or animal body from patentability. However, this does not apply to products, in particular substances or compositions, for use in any of these methods.Furthermore, Articles 54(4) and (5) EPC provide that a claim to a known substance...

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  15/04/2024

  APAC region

  Top IP developments and predictions across Asia-Pacific

  We look back at the top developments over the last 12 months in Intellectual Property (IP) and we look to the future by offering our top predictions for the coming year for businesses operating across Asia Pacific (APAC) with an emphasis on mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore.Over the last year, we have seen the continuous and rapid development of IP systems in APAC jurisdictions, including the reciprocal enforcement of IP judgments between Hong Kong and mainland China and innovative Chinese court decisions on FRAND rates and the copyright of AI-generated images.  Over the coming year,...

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  12/04/2024

  Europe

  Navigating clinical trial disclosures: No reasonable expectation of success in a patient sub-population in view of prior art reporting phase III clinical trial (T 1437/21)

  Recent EPO Board of Appeal decision T 1437/21 adds to a growing number of decisions concerning the patentability of second or further medical use inventions where the prior art relates to a clinical trial. At a time when the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is requiring increased transparency for EU clinical trials, this case law is of increasing importance to those operating in the pharmaceutical space.In brief, this decision further supports the position that the disclosure of a clinical trial protocol does not always mean there is a reasonable expectation of success of achieving treatment. The...

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  03/04/2024

  Europe

  EP Case Law in Brief: Long-felt want and inventive step

  “Where the invention solves a technical problem which workers in the art have been attempting to solve for a long time, or otherwise fulfils a long-felt need, this may be regarded as an indication of inventive step.”The EPO Guidelines (G-VII, 10.3) describe the basic approach to the concept of long-felt want or long-felt need – terms that are used interchangeably. Long-felt want is an example of a secondary indicator of inventive step. Secondary indicators are factors which, although on their own may not be enough to indicate an inventive step, may be supportive of inventive step...

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