[2017] UKSC 48
UKSC 2015/0181
Actavis UK Limited and others (Appellants) v Eli Lilly and Company (Respondent)
UKSC 2015/0197
Eli Lilly and Company (Appellant) v Actavis UK Limited and others (Respondents)
UKSC 2016/0002
Eli Lilly and Company (Appellant) v Actavis UK Limited and others (Respondents)
On appeal from the Court of Appeal Civil Division (England and Wales)
The issue in this case is whether a new pemetrexed based cancer treatment produced by Actavis UK Limited and others infringes Eli Lilly and Company’s patent and its foreign designations either indirectly under s. 60(2) of the Patents Act 1977 (matter for appeal) or directly under a proper interpretation of Article 69 of the Europe Patent Convention 2000 (matter for cross-appeal).
In order to market a new cancer treatment product, Actavis UK Limited and others applied for declarations of non-infringements of a European patent owned by Eli Lilly and Company and registered in the UK and the corresponding national designations in France, Italy and Spain
The Supreme Court unanimously allows Lilly’s appeal and holds that the Actavis products would infringe the Patent in the United Kingdom, and in France, Italy and Spain. Actavis’ cross-appeal is unanimously dismissed, so that, if its products would not directly infringe, they would indirectly infringe as held by the Court of Appeal.
