Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs)

Issued patents relating to approved medicines, which for a number of years have generated good revenues, are undoubtedly the world's most valuable patents and the crown jewel among the pharmaceutical companies' assets. Therefore, there are very significant interests associated with the possibilities of extending the protection either through a patent extension or by issuing so-called supplementary protection certificates. During this course, the rules for patent extension are reviewed in a number of selected countries. The EU rules on the issuance of supplementary protection certificates are then reviewed.