EU antitrust body to investigate out-of court Patent settlements

Added on : 19 January 2010
Filed under : Patents, Designs & Copyright

In summer 2009, the European Union Commission’s antitrust body issued a critical report on the actions taken by large drug companies to stall or prevent the launch of generic drugs on the market when the relevant patents expire. The investigation was conducted with a view to ending delays in bringing generic drugs to the market thereby reducing the cost of healthcare.

This EU watchdog has now asked several of the largest drug companies for information regarding their settlements in patent disputes, primarily those between the originator – the developer of the drug, usually one of the large pharmaceutical companies - and generic companies.

It appears that out-of-court settlements are the primary focus possibly because the details of these, in contrast to settlements obtained through the Law Courts, are not already in the public domain. The results of this current exercise may determine whether further requests are made in the future where the Commission believes a problem remains.

The Commission said it would analyse the agreements and publish a report.

Sources: Europa.eu; EurActiv.com