Overview

Two recent developments at European Union (EU) level are likely to have an influence on pharmaceutical patent litigation; the first in a more imminent fashion than the second. In January 2008 the European Commission (EC) launched a sector inquiry into EU pharmaceutical markets because information relating to innovative and generic medicines suggested that competition may be restricted or distorted.

The motive for the inquiry was the Commission’s perception that there is a decline in innovation in the sector when measured by the number of novel medicines reaching the market and that there are instances of delayed market entry of generic medicines as compared to what might be expected. On 8 July 2009 the Commission published the inquiry’s final report. Its findings are inevitably mired in the ageold conflict between intellectual property (IP) rights and competition law.

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