A niche blog dedicated to the issues that arise when supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) extend patents beyond their normal life -- and to the respective positions of patent owners, investors, competitors and consumers. The blog also addresses wider issues that may be of interest or use to those involved in the extension of patent rights. You can email The SPC Blog here

Monday 19 May 2014

More references, more gaps?

... unless it has been
caused by the CJEU
"Two gaps instead of one: the CJEU's effect on Supplementary Protection Certificate jurisprudence" is the title of the June 2014 Guest Editorial in the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice (JIPLP), written by editorial board member and patent attorney Darren Smyth (EIP, London). In keeping with normal JIPLP practice, the full text of this editorial is posted on the journal's informal jiplp weblog, here.

Darren concludes:
"You have all the guidance from the CJEU you are going to get. Every referral you make will result in more “gaps”, not fewer, in the legislative framework. Decide some cases; aim for consistency; but if there happen to be some anomalies, well, it is better than spending the time, effort, and money on a referral that will simply make the issues more complex than they were to begin with".

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