Under English law, a patentee can ask the court for an
injunction to be granted before an infringing act has taken place
(known as quia timet injunctions). The Patents Court
recently handed down its decision in Merck Sharp Dohme Corp and
Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited v Teva Pharma BV and
another where the requirements for obtaining quia
timet injunctions were considered.
By way of background, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS - a long
standing client of Dehns) held an EP(UK) patent and supplementary
protection certificate (SPC) relating to efavirenz. The
generics company Teva obtained marketing approval for efavirenz
while the patent and SPC were still in force. BMS contacted
Teva to determine if it intended to launch efavirenz before the
patent rights expired, but Teva stated its intentions were
confidential.
