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N E W S & A N A LY S I S
PATENT WATCH
Court sides with generics company over Tamiflu patent
Aloysius Patrimonio/Alamy
A US appeals court has ruled that the expiration dates of two patents owned by Gilead that protect Tamiflu (oseltamivir) are important when determining whether they overlap with each other. If the generics manufacturer Natco is successful in the next stage of the dispute, the company may be able to file for regulatory approval of generic oseltamivir 22 months earlier than originally anticipated.
Natco asserted that Gilead had committed so-called obviousness-type double patenting (OTDP) with regard to two Tamiflu patents (US 5763483 and US 5952375). This doctrine prevents an unjust extension of the length of patent protection by stating that the claims of one patent must be distinct from the claims of a second patent (that shares a common inventor). Normally, the reference patent on which OTDP is based issues before and expires before the second...