The EU Court of Justice dismisses the appeals of several manufacturers of medicines and upholds the Commission’s decision regarding a pay-for-delay infringement (Lundbeck)

On 25 March 2021, the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”) dismissed the appeals by Lundbeck and five producers of generic medicines against the General Court’s (GC) judgments that upheld the Commission’s decision and the fines it had imposed in its first pay-for-delay infringement decision in 2013. The CJEU upheld the GC rulings and confirmed that Lundbeck (“the originator”) and the generic companies were potential competitors, finding that the existence of a patent cannot, as such, mean that a generic company is not a potential rival, when it has the firm intention and ability to enter the market and shows readiness to challenge the validity of that patent. In addition, the CJEU confirmed that the agreements in question were a restriction of competition “by object” because it was clear