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Warner-Lambert Company, Llc v Actavis Group Ptc & Ors [2015] EWCA Civ 556 (28 May 201
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This appeal raises an issue of construction of a patent claim in "Swiss" form, that is to say a claim for the use of a compound in the production of a medicine for use in a particular therapeutic indication. In particular, the appeal is concerned with what is meant by the requirement in such claims that the medicament be "for" a therapeutic indication. The issue is an important one, as it concerns the scope of protection to be afforded to what is recognised to be an important class of inventions in the pharmaceutical field, namely those which are concerned with the discovery of new uses for known medicines.
This appeal raises an issue of construction of a patent claim in "Swiss" form, that is to say a claim for the use of a compound in the production of a medicine for use in a particular therapeutic indication. In particular, the appeal is concerned with what is meant by the requirement in such claims that the medicament be "for" a therapeutic indication. The issue is an important one, as it concerns the scope of protection to be afforded to what is recognised to be an important class of inventions in the pharmaceutical field, namely those which are concerned with the discovery of new uses for known medicines.
