Gumanitarnoe deystvie (Humanitarian Action) Foundation, recognized as a foreign agent, is challenging in the Intellectual Rights Court the refusal of the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) to cancel the Eurasian patent of pharmaceutical company Gilead.The current price of the patented drug combination is about $186 for a one-month pack, while generics cost up to $5 for a similar course.
“The patent prevents certain drugs from being manufactured, sold and used to treat human immunodeficiency virus. And if, for example, you are going to manufacture a medicine using the patented technology or sell it, the rights holder can levy a fine or damages and destroy the medicine,” Maxim Ali, partner, head of IP/IT practice at Maxima Legal, explained to the Delovoy Peterburg newspaper.
The expert reminded that several years ago, Biocad, one of the largest Russian pharmaceutical manufacturers, tried to cancel this patent too. The company referred to the lack of inventive step, i.e. the obviousness of the invention for a specialist. This is a rather expected tactic: this condition is often the most difficult to meet when patenting inventions, Maxim Ali explained.
Gumanitarnoe deystvie (Humanitarian Action) Foundation relied on the criteria of novelty and industrial applicability – failure to achieve the results claimed in the patent. But it failed to provide convincing evidence, resulting in both objections being rejected.
“There are no apparent logical inconsistencies in the Rospatent decision. Apparently, the arguments about the lack of novelty of the invention were indeed very weak, so it is doubtful that the foundation can change the court’s mind yet. As for the invention’s lack of industrial applicability, the prospects for this argument will depend heavily on the evidence provided by the foundation and the results of the forensic examination, if any, that is ordered” concluded Maxim.
