The BGP Litigation Intellectual Property and Technology Practice successfully defended the interests of PharmVILAR, a leading contract manufacturer and renowned distributor of pharmaceutical products in Russia and the CIS, in a patent dispute before the Praesidium of the Intellectual Property Court (IPC).
In 2020, one of the holding’s companies, R&D Centre PharmVILAR, challenged in Rospatent a competitor's patent for a group of inventions called “Antiarrhythmic Agent”. The IPC and, subsequently, its Praesidium overturned the decision, however, and instructed Rospatent to reconsider the opposition.
Upon reconsideration, Rospatent once again declared the patent invalid. The patent holder attempted to appeal Rospatent’s decision in court. The case was heard twice by the IPC and its Praesidium, with both courts upholding the legality of the patent's invalidation.
PharmVILAR successfully demonstrated that the claims of the group of inventions included features not disclosed in the original application materials. It was also shown that the substance “lappaconitine” mentioned in the claims was not identical to “lappaconitine hydrobromide”, which was referenced in the application materials.
Moreover, Rospatent and the courts concluded that the group of inventions lacked any inventive step, as all the technical results of the inventions were already known from prior art. The courts held that the reference to potential use of the inventions in patients with lung diseases did not indicate any independent bronchodilatory effect.
The court rulings on this case also provided clarification on the assessment of amended claims. The IPC Praesidium noted that analysis of amended claims is redundant if it has already been determined that all claims, both independent and dependent, in the group of inventions lack an inventive step.
