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ARTICLE · 03 APRIL 2020

Pay The Correct SPC Fee Or Risk Expiry Ahead Of Time!

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In the UK, a recent decision of the Patents Court highlights the importance of ensuring that applicants for supplementary protection certificates ("SPCs") file the correct fee within the time permitted...

United KingdomIntellectual Property
Inga-Marlene Pietsch
Inga-Marlene Pietsch
Huw Evans
Huw Evans
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In the UK, a recent decision of the Patents Court highlights the importance of ensuring that applicants for supplementary protection certificates ("SPCs") file the correct fee within the time permitted as failure to do so may lead to early expiry of the SPC.

The correct fee for an SPC in the UK is calculated according to the number of years of its duration, but paid upfront in one lump sum. The duration of the SPC granted to Genentech for ranibizumab (marketed as "Lucentis") was almost four years but Master Data Center (Genentech's patent administration company) in error calculated and paid only the sum for a two year term.

The question of whether this could be corrected reached the High Court of England and Wales (Patents Court), which issued its judgment in March 2020: Master Data Center, Inc (and Genentech Inc) v The Comptroller General of Patents [2020] EWHC 572 (Pat). The outcome was that the error had both shortened the term of Genentech's SPC to the

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