Astrazeneca AB & Anor v. Apotex Pty Ltd
Astrazeneca AB & Anor v. Watson Pharma Pty Ltd
Astrazeneca AB & Anor v. Ascent Pharma Pty Ltd
Case Nos.
S54/2015, S55/2015 and S56/2015
Case Information
Lower Court Judgment
12/08/2014 Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia (Besanko J, Jessup J, Foster J, Nicholas J, Yates J)
Catchwords
Intellectual property – Patents – Requirements for a valid patent - Novelty – Prior art information – Inventive step – Common general knowledge – ss 7(2), 7(3), 22A and 138(3)(a) of the Patents Act 1990 (Cth) (“Act”) – Where the applicants are the patentees and exclusive licensees of Australian Patent No 051 which relates to a method of treating high cholesterol – Whether the patent was successfully assigned to the appellants - Where there was an order for the revocation of the patent on the basis the claimed invention lacked an inventive step pursuant to ss 7(2) and 7(3) as the invention was obvious in light of common general knowledge and available prior art information – Whether prior art information and common general knowledge can be considered together pursuant to s 7(3) of the Act – Whether when assessing whether an invention is obvious in light of common general knowledge and any s 7(3) information, can sources of prior art information that teach towards an invention as the only avenues available to a skilled person be considered in disregard of any consideration of alternative sources – Whether there can be an order for revocation pursuant to s 138(3)(a) of the Act – Whether s 22A of the Act was applicable in the current case.
Documents
13/03/2015 Hearing (SLA, Sydney)
26/03/2015 Notice of appeal
08/04/2015 Written submissions (Appellants)
08/04/2015 Chronology (Appellants)
22/04/2015 Written submissions (Respondent - Apotex Pty Ltd)
22/04/2015 Written submissions (Respondents - Watson Pharma Pty Ltd & Ascent Pharma Pty Ltd)
29/04/2015 Reply (to Apotex Pty Ltd)
29/04/2015 Reply (to Watson Pharma Pty Ltd & Ascent Pharma Pty Ltd)
04/05/2015 Written submissions (The Commonwealth of Australia seeking leave to intervene)
13/05/2015 Hearing (Full Court, Canberra) (Audio-visual recording)
14/05/2015 Hearing (Full Court, Canberra) (Audio-visual recording)
02/09/2015 Judgment (Judgment summary)