September 2007

Published: 8 October 2007
By: Publications

Articles include: New US Patent Rules; Injunctions Pending Appeal; Divisions over Divisionals

The highlights of the September edition are:

New US Patent Rules

Whether you are considering filing a patent application or in the midst of prosecuting a patent application before a United States examiner, the new US Patent & Trademark Office rules published 21 August 2007 for claims and continuation practice are intended to encourage you as an applicant to not put off until tomorrow what can be done today. 

Injunctions Pending Appeal

Les Laboratoires Servier markets perindopril, an ACE inhibitor (blood pressure controller) which has an annual turnover of approximately £70m in the UK, and owns a number of patents protecting its monoploy over the drug.  In late July 2006, Apotex launched its generic perindopril product in the UK.  Servier issued proceeding against Apotex on 1 August 2006 for infringement of one of its patents, which relates to a novel crystalline form for perindopril erbumine and applied to Court for an interm injunction pending trial. 

Divisions over Divisionals

The consolidated decisions G 1/05 and G 1/06 of the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal issued at the end of June 2007 had been anxiously awaited by many practitioners, worried about the possible effects on European divisional practice.  Would the Enlarged Board hold that any extension of subject-matter in a divisional application over its parent was irretrievably fatal, however slight?  Would it impost restrictions on the filin gof cascading sequences of divisional applications? 

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