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

Wednesday 6 April 2016

Update on IL PTE practice: Notification date of MA to be used in calculating PTE duration

Liad Whatstein of Liad Whatstein & Co. brings news of a recent decision of the Israeli Patent Office regarding the calculation of the duration of Israeli patent term extensions (PTEs).  Liad represented Novartis in the IL PTE petition for secukinumab (Cosentyx®).  He writes:
The Israel PTO recently accepted that for the purpose of calculating the duration of IL PTEs the EMA MA notification date shall be taken into account. This development changes the practice of the IL PTO and comes only a few months after the IL Patents Commissioner held that the EMA MA grant date should be used.

The Israeli PTE system is unique and is based on a series of linkages to the expiry dates and extension periods of the US PTE and SPCs granted in any of the EU-5 countries (United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain and Germany). In addition, the Israeli PTE must end no later than 14 years from the earliest date in which a regulatory approval was obtained in either the Unites States or the EU-5 countries.

In the matter of IL PTE petition for Apixaban (Eliquis®) published on September 16th, 2015, the IL Patents Commissioner held that for the purpose of calculating the duration of IL PTEs the EMA MA grant date rather than the EMA MA notification date will be used. As a consequence, the PTE for Apixaban (Eliquis®) will expire in Israel two days earlier than would have been the case if the EMA MA notification date started the 14 year count. The IL Commissioner justified his decision by referring to the lack of uniformity between different European Patent Offices on this issue (i.e., whether the EMA grant date or the EMA notification date should be used to calculate the duration of SPCs under Article 13 of Regulation No 469/2009). However, the IL Commissioner was not apprised of the opinion of the ECJ advocate general (AG) in Seattle Genetics which was published prior to the decision in the Apixaban case. If the IL Commissioner had been apprised of the opinion of the AG, the Commissioner would have likely reached a different result.

In any event, after the CJEU published its binding decision in Seattle Genetics (case C-471/14) on October 6th, 2015, it was only a matter of time until the IL PTO would be called to reevaluate its position. In the matter of IL PTE petition for secukinumab (Cosentyx®), the IL PTO examiner initially calculated the IL PTE period based on the EMA grant date which was 4 days earlier than the notification date. The patentee argued that once the CJEU issued a final decision, which is applicable in all of the EU-5 Countries (among others), holding that the calculation of the duration of supplementary protection should be based on the EMA MA notification date – the IL PTO is bound to follow the CJEU determination. The IL PTO reevaluated its position and decided to follow the CJEU ruling, effectively canceling the IL Commissioner’ decision in the matter of IL PTE petition for Apixaban (Eliquis®).
Many thanks to Liad for sharing the news with us!

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