Goedecke Aktiengesellschaft & Pfizer, S.A. v. Laboratorios Rubió, S.A., Supreme Court, Spain, 14 June 2010, Docket No. 1801/2006.
The Supreme Court, by means of a decision dated 14 June 2010, declared the existence of infringement of the patent ES 2063219, owned by Goedecke Aktiengesellschaft (Goedecke) and licensed in Spain to Pfizer, S.A. (Pfizer) in relation to the gabapentin generic drugs intended to be marketed in Spain by Laboratorios Rubió, thus confirming the previous judgment handed down by the Court of Appeals of Barcelona on 17 May 2006.
Goedecke and Pfizer had brought legal actions against Laboratorios Rubió with occasion of the request for and obtaining by this company of an authorization to market in Spain several gabapentin generic drugs. Indeed, the plaintiffs understood that the obtaining of such authorization infringed their rights derived from the aforementioned patent, protecting a method for the stabilization of pharmaceutical compositions comprising cyclic amino acids, one of them being gabapentin. Goedecke and Pfizer had therefore claimed for the patent infringement to be declared, the cease and desist of any exploitation activities over gabapentin compositions having being obtained by implementing the patented process, as well as a compensation for damages suffered.
Laboratorios Cinfa, S.A. v. Pfizer Ltd., Pfizer Corporation & Pfizer, S.A., Supreme Court, Spain, 30 June 2010, Docket No. 1785/2006.
On 30 June 2010, the Supreme Court rendered a decision putting an end to the long-lasting proceedings in which Pfizer and Laboratiorios Cinfa (Cinfa) have been confronted for 8 years in relation to the marketing in Spain of generic drugs of amlodipine besylate. Contrary to what both the First Instance Court and the Court of Appeals had previously declared, the Supreme Court understood that Cinfa could not take advantage of the experimental use exception to patent rights -as drafted subsequent to the insertion of the “Bolar Provision” in the Spanish Patents Act- to elude the infringement of Pfizer’s patents ES 2012803 (EP 244944) and ES 520389 with respect to the activities carried out aimed at obtaining the corresponding marketing authorization from the Spanish Medicines Agency, thus declaring the Supreme Court the infringement of Pfizer’s patents.
Eisai Co. Ltd. & Pfizer S.A. v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals S.L., Commercial Court No. 5 of Barcelona, Spain, 29 December 2009, Docket No. 581/2009
Commercial Court No. 5 of Barcelona has confirmed its previous decision of 29 July 2009 pursuant to which it granted interim injunction inaudita parte against Mylan Pharmaceuticals (Mylan), which had been ordered to temporarily refrain from commercializing in Spain generic drugs with the active compound donepezil for the treatment of mild to moderate dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease.
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