2018-02-21:
The Supreme Court ruled on 19 February not to grant a leave for appeal for the appealed decisions of the Patent and Market Court of Appeal (PMÖD) regarding the correction of the duration of Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs). The PMÖD decisions were appealed by the Swedish Patent Office and by one of the proprietors of the SPCs. Since a leave for appeal was not granted, the appealed PMÖD decisions have now gained legal force.
In the meantime, the Court of Justice of the European Union has delivered its judgment in Case C-492/16 (Incyte Corporation v Szellemi Tulajdon Nemzeti Hivatala). According to the ruling in the judgment, the holder of an SPC may, under Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 469/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, bring an appeal for rectification of the duration stated in the certificate, provided that the certificate has not expired. The judgment establishes that EU law provides for a possibility for rectification of the term of an SPC, as long as the term has not yet expired. The issue regarding the possibility of correcting the duration of an SPC in Sweden seems thereby to have been clarified.
If you have any questions, please contact Gustaf Örn or Camilla Lidén.