EPLAW PATENT BLOG

UK – Generics (UK) Limited and others v H Lundbeck A/S – House of Lords

Posted: February 25th, 2009

Generics (UK) Limited and others (Appellants) v H Lundbeck A/S (Respondents), House of Lords, UK, 25 February 2009, Case No. [2009] UKHL 12, with thanks to Marc Döring and Kevin Mooney, Simmons & Simmons

The Court of Appeal decision in Generics (UK) Limited v Lundbeck A/S followed Mr Justice Kitchin's High Court judgment in May 2007. The case was subsequently appealed to the House of Lords who gave their decision on 25 February 2009. The key issue for the Court of Appeal was the extent of the monopoly given by a product claim in a patent. Kitchin J had extended the application of the Biogen test for patent insufficiency such that the scope of the monopoly for a product claim could be severely reduced. Lundbeck's successful appeal, therefore, has significant commercial implications for the pharmaceutical industry as a whole.

Read the extended summary (prepared by Kevin Mooney) here.

Read the decision in first instance (in English) here.

Read the appeal decision (in English) here.
Read the decision of the House of Lords (in English) here.

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