Supplementary Protection Certificates And Basic Patents

For supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) to be filed in the EU, they must be based on a basic patent. Lise Luciani discusses this condition in the context of a recent French ruling.

Supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) are special IP rights that extend the duration of a pharmaceutical or phytopharmaceutical patent in Europe. The right was introduced at the beginning of the 1990s to encourage research (especially pharmaceutical research) by ensuring return on the often substantial investments required to develop and launch new drugs to market.

Supplementary protection certificates: CJEU issuing criteria

In a recent case, the French Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI) received an application for an SPC to protect the product atezolizumab. Atezolizumab is a monoclonal antibody directed against the PD-L1 protein (Programmed death-ligand 1), which plays an important role in suppressing the growth of tumours.