Public consultation on review of current rules for technology transfer agreements

The European Commission is undertaking a review of the current EU competition rules on technology transfer agreements, namely the technology transfer block exemption regulation (TTBER), in order to consider whether they should be modified or replaced when they expire in April 2014.

Earn-outs: everyone's a winner?

An earn-out is a means of ensuring that buyers do not overpay for (and sellers do not undersell) businesses that may be difficult to value upfront.

UK Supreme Court finds gene sequence 'capable of industrial application'

The Supreme Court today handed down its judgment in Eli Lilly v HGS overturning the lower courts' finding that HGS's patent lacked industrial applicability. The case is now likely to return to the Court of Appeal to determine the issues of obviousness and insufficiency.

10% tax on intellectual property - will your business benefit from the Patent Box?

Taxation of intellectual property (IP) is back in the spotlight this week with the publication of the Government's latest proposals. These set out the details of how the 10% corporate tax rate on IP earnings known as the "patent box" will work when it comes into effect in April 2013.

Green light for compulsory pension provision

Workplace pension reform emerged this week relatively unscathed from a government review of the policy (Making automatic enrolment work: A review for the DWP).

Unhappy returns - the AstraZeneca case strikes again

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced this morning that Reckitt Benckiser has agreed to pay a penalty of £10.2 million for an abuse of dominant position in the market for the NHS supply of alginate and antacid heartburn medicines.

A drop in carriage clock sales? Time called on default retirement age

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills and the Department for Work and Pensions have issued a joint consultation on the Government's proposal to phase out the default retirement age.

Mismatch of patent + marketing authoristion + product = SPCs rejected

The Patents Court has considered Yeda Research Development Ltd's appeal from the Comptroller who refused to grant it Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) in respect of its combination treatment for tumours.

Medeva's SPC applications: the Court of Appeal refers questions to the ECJ

There has been a dispute concerning whether Medeva BV was entitled to obtain supplementary protection certificates for its whooping cough vaccine.

'Round up' on the scope of DNA patents - Monsanto Technology LLC v Cefetra BV and Others

A leading edge patent law hot potato is patents for DNA sequences. It appears that the protection offered by such patents in the EU may be more restrictive than many anticipated.

Upstream without a paddle

The Court of Appeal has found in Eli Lilly and Company v Human Genome Sciences Inc that HGS' patent for a protein called by HGS "Neutrokine-a", antibodies to it and the polynucleotide sequence encoding for it was invalid for lack of industrial application.

Dr Reddy v Eli Lilly: the Court of Appeal consigns the old UK legal test for the validity of selection patents to history and looks to Europe for the answer

Questions on Supplementary Protection Certificates referred to the European Court of Justice

The English High Court has sought guidance from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) relating to the validity of a Supplementary Protection Certificate.

Heart valve case by-passes experimental-use exemption

There is a dearth of UK case law on the application and scope of the experimental-use defence since the 1985 Monsanto v Stauffer decision.

Research & Development tax credits - can you make or defend a claim?

The Research & Development (R&D) tax credits help companies to invest more in R&D either by reducing a company's tax bill or, for some loss-making small or medium sized companies (SMEs), by providing a cash sum.

The Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry Preliminary Report: patent-related issues raised relevant to all patent intensive industries

Wragge & Co's first analysis of the EU Commission's preliminary report on the pharmaceutical sector looked at regulatory issues covered by the preliminary report. The IP team now moves on to consider the patent-related practices.

Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry Preliminary Report

The European Commission has delivered its preliminary report on the findings from the Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry launched in January 2008.

European Commission publishes preliminary findings of Pharmaceutical Inquiry - and opens up a hornets' nest

At a conference in Brussels today, the European Commission delivered its preliminary findings on the Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry.

Enantiomer of a known medicament held inventive and entitled to SPC

Against the backdrop of a number of recent European-wide negative decisions in which the validity of Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPC) was in contention, Daiichi's SPC for its Levofloxacin patent has been upheld.

Lessons on chemical classes

In July this year, Wragge & Co's IP team reported on the German Appeal Court decision on Eli Lilly's patent for the anti-psychotic drug olanzapine.

Conflicting pharmaceutical trade marks

The Court of First Instance has upheld the opposition by Aventis Pharma SA against Nycomed GmbH's application for the Community trade mark PRAZOL (Case T-95/07).

Be careful what you ask for: Servier payout over £17 million to Apotex under a cross-undertaking in damages

On 9 October 2008, Servier was ordered to pay generics company Apotex £17.5 million under a cross-undertaking in damages given by Servier, in exchange for the grant of an injunction.

Eli Lilly v Human Genome Sciences - gene sequence patents get a dressing down

In Eli Lilly v Human Genome Sciences, the English Patents Court sets out guidelines for the first time on the industrial application criteria for patentability (the EPC equivalent to the US "utility" requirement).

Patent validity - UK's highest court takes a step in the right direction

Patent law has once again been the subject of consideration of the House of Lords in Conor Medisystems Inc v Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc & Others.

Everyone is created equal (but some are more equal than others). Latest developments in discrimination law

The courts and tribunals have been busy as ever, delivering decisions in discrimination cases.

Patent validity - the Lords take a step in the right direction

The House of Lords has delivered a patent law decision which is likely to be welcomed by innovative companies throughout the UK and the pharmaceutical industry in particular.

Immigration update

Wragge & Co's legal experts bring you the latest immigration news.

NICE result for Eisai

The Court of Appeal has judicially reviewed guidance issued by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) concerning the prescription of certain medicines for the treatment of Alzheimers and held it to be procedurally unfair.

Relocation, relocation

Will the last company to leave the UK please turn the lights out?  The news that United Business Media (UBM) is planning to follow Shire Pharmaceuticals out of the UK might be raising some questions in government at the moment.

Tax credits - deadline fast approaching

Following changes to the Finance Act 2006, all companies are required to finalise their Research & Development (R&D) tax credit claims by 31 March 2008, for the periods 1 April 2002 - 31 March 2006.

Austrian province loses test case for regional ban on GMOs