Patent Law

European report attacks pharma patenting practices

By Lawrence B. Ebert, Esq.

The report cites a number of strategies pharma uses to hold onto exclusivity.

A ?patent thicket,? also known as a patent cluster, consists of hundreds of different patents filed across Europe on a single drug, with some patents coming late in the drug?s life cycle. The patent maze can make it hard for a would-be generic competitor to figure out when relevant patents have expired, and when it?s safe to bring a generic to market.

Patent litigation quadrupled between 2000 and 2007, the report found, with generic companies winning most of the cases in which a final judgment was rendered. And settlements, including those in which drug companies pay generic companies to delay market entry, totaled more than 200 million Euro, the report found.

The report doesn?t single out individual companies. But the January raid targeted big players, including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-Aventis and GlaxoSmithKline. And a follow-up raid earlier this week included the generics giant Teva.

The European report is available on the net, and starts with:

"Individuals and governments want a strong pharmaceuticals sector that delivers better products and value for money. But if innovative products are not being produced, and cheaper generic alternatives to existing products are being delayed, then we need to find out why and, if necessary, take action."

Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for competition

Full post as published by IPBiz on November 28, 2008 (boomark / email).