EPLAW Patent Blog

AT - Lundbeck v. Ratiopharm / Escitalopram SPC

H.Lundbeck A/S, Lundbeck Austria GmbH v. Ratiopharm Arzneimittel Vertriebs GmbH, Escitalopram, SPC, Supreme Court, Austria, 7 March 2011, Case No. 17 Ob 5/11a

Another Escitalopram decision re the SPC for Escitalopram.

The Austrian Supreme Court considers the SPC valid. This is in line with other European courts such as the Bundespatentgericht in a decision of 30 March 2011 (the reasons have not yet been published).

Read the Austrian Supreme Court decision (in English) here.
Read the Austrian Supreme Court decision (in German) here.

Read the German Bundespatentgericht decision (in German) here.

AT - Nebivolol

Nebivolol, limitation of patent claims, Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof) 19 November, 2009, Case No. 17 Ob 24/09t

A limitation of a patent claim is only admissible if it leads to a narrower scope of protection and does not go beyond the original disclosure of the patent. Under these conditions, the patent owner is free to base an infringement action on a limited version of its claims, irrespectively of initiating formal limitation proceedings.

An application for cost reimbursement by the Main Association of the Austrian Social Insurance Institutions, which contains a declaration of the price and the availability of a generic product, constitutes an offering for sale within the meaning of Section 22 para 1 of the Austrian Patent Act. Defendant therefore can be ordered to withdraw a pending application and enjoined from filing a new one before the patents expires.