EPLAW Patent Blog

NL - Lundbeck v. Tiefenbacher / Escitalopram Appeal

Joined cases of H. Lundbeck A/S v. Alfred E. Tiefenbacher GmbH and H. Lundbeck A/S v. Centrafarm Services B.V. and H. Lundbeck A/S v. Ratiopharm GmbH, Court of Appeal The Hague, The Netherlands, 24 January 2012, Case Nos 312468 / HA ZA 08-1827, 314574/HA ZA 08-2142 and 314783/HA ZA 08-2172, with thanks to Marleen van den Horst en Jaap Bremer, BarentsKrans, for sending in the judgment and a summary in English

The Court of Appeal in the Hague has decided that Lundbeck’s patent for escitalopram, which patent had been invalidated in its entirety by the District Court in first instance, is partially invalid. The product claims for the active substance escitalopram were nullified for lack of inventive step, whilst the method claim describing a specific procedure for the synthesis of escitalopram and the claim relating to an intermediate product were considered valid. The SPC-specific nullity arguments were dismissed.

Read the entire summary in English here.

Read the judgment (in Dutch) here.  

NL - Lundbeck v. Tiefenbacher, Centrafarm Services and Ratiopharm

H. Lundbeck a/s v. Alfred E. Tiefenbacher GmbH, Centrafarm Services B.V. and Ratiopharm GmbH, costs of procedure, Court of Appeal, The Hague, The Netherlands, 22 December 2009, Docket No. 200.039.432/01

Withdrawn application for the provisional examination of witnesses / expert opinion. Other parties object to such withdrawal if no full costs of the proceedings as based on the Enforcement Directive are paid. The Court of Appeal states that the Enforcement Directive does not distinguish between summons proceedings and application proceedings. Lundbeck's application relates to facts and grounds of a judgment by the District Court of The Hague regarding a patent (which judgment has been appealed) and is (thus) related to the enforcement of an intellectual property right. No room for the application of Article 289 Dutch Code of Civil Procedure. Lundbeck's application was declared inadmissible. Full costs are awarded (to the amount as agreed between parties).

Read the decision (in Dutch) here.