Intellectual Property Weekly Abstracts Alert - Week Of September 12, 2011

Edited by Chantal Saunders and Beverley Moore

NOC CASES

Order of Prohibition Granted

Astrazeneca Canada Inc. v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals ULC
Drug: ARIMIDEX^® anastrozole

Mylan alleged that the patent is invalid for lack of utility and obviousness. The Court first considered a number of preliminary issues. With respect to the admissibility of an affidavit of an expert, the Court held that the witness's credentials as an expert impact the weight and not the admissibility of the affidavit. Further, the Court declined to hear a motion by AstraZeneca at the outset of the hearing seeking to strike portions of Mylan's Memorandum of Fact and Law that allegedly made an argument that was not contained in the Notice of Allegation (NOA). The Court held that the memorandum is not a pleading that can be struck and that interlocutory motions in applications are exceptional. The Court dismissed the motion but directed that arguments with respect to the adequacy of the NOA