The EU Court of Justice clarifies the conditions for a pay-for-delay agreement to be qualified as a restriction of competition by object (Generics - UK / GlaxoSmithKline / Actavis / Xellia Pharmaceuticals / Merck / Alpharma)

On 30 January 2020 (case C-307/18), the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") issued a preliminary ruling that sheds more light on the circumstances in which an agreement settling a patent dispute between a pharmaceutical patent holder and a company intending to launch a competing generic product may fall foul of EU competition rules. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW - KEY TAKEAWAYS A settlement agreement between a pharmaceutical patent holder and a generic company may fall foul of EU competition law if the latter would otherwise have had the ability to enter the market as a competitor to the originator company. The existence of a patent in force does not prevent generic companies from being regarded as potential competitors to the patent holder, as the validity of a patent can be contested. A

L'accès à cet article est réservé aux abonnés

Déjà abonné ? Identifiez-vous

L’accès à cet article est réservé aux abonnés.

Lire gratuitement un article

Vous pouvez lire cet article gratuitement en vous inscrivant.

 

Version PDF

Auteur

  • Ashurst (Brussels)

Citation

Donald Slater, The EU Court of Justice clarifies the conditions for a pay-for-delay agreement to be qualified as a restriction of competition by object (Generics - UK / GlaxoSmithKline / Actavis / Xellia Pharmaceuticals / Merck / Alpharma), 30 janvier 2020, e-Competitions January 2020, Art. N° 95834

Visites 154

Tous les numéros

  • Latest News issue 
  • Tous les News issues
  • Latest Special issue 
  • Tous les Special issues