Istanbul IP Court Rejects PI Demand Due To Pending Invalidation Action

One of the two IP courts of Istanbul rejected a crucial precautionary injunction (PI) demand of a owner on the ground that the demand requires a full trial due to the pending invalidation action against the relevant patent.

The patent subject of the PI demand is disclosing use of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for the treatment of certain conditions of a disease. As per the summaries of product characteristics (SmPCs) of the defendant's drug, the infringement of the patent was obvious. The main defence of the defendant was the invalidation action filed against the patent slightly before the PI demand. It is understood that the invalidation action was still at the international notification process therefore the patent owner was not aware of the action.