Clarifying the difference between patent entitlement and the "first-to-file" doctrine, the House of Lords recently ruled in a preliminary action in the United Kingdom that Yeda Research and Development Company Limited was entitled to continue with its action to establish their entitlement of the patent covering the anti-cancer drug Erbitux. Yeda Research and Development Company Limited v. Rhone-Poulenc Rorer International Holdings Inc & Others [2007] UKHL 43.
Unlike the United States, the United Kingdom’s patent system is based on a "first-to-file" system, which means that the first inventor to file a patent application will be awarded a patent, as opposed to the inventor who first invented it (in reality these are almost always the same person). However, this does not mean that a patent will be granted to anyone who has made a filing; the person must be entitled to file the application by virtue of being the inventor or a successor in title of the inventor. It is therefore possible
