The Russian pharmaceutical industry has recently become the field for serious patent-related battles between large foreign producers of original drugs and Russian manufacturers of generics.
The originators are dissatisfied with the increasing attempts by generic drug producers to take over the markets even for those drugs that are effectively protected by patents.
In turn, the generic drug producers complain that the originators are trying to restrict their access to the market, although the regulation and court practice so far are far from unambiguous.
A similar trend can be observed in the entire former USSR, where the regulatory bodies and courts have not as yet developed an efficient mechanism for maintaining the balance of interests between the pharmaceutical businesses, the state, and the patients.
As one of the leading law firms with expertise in pharmaceuticals, Lidings has for several years been representing major foreign and Russian pharmaceutical companies in patent disputes in the pharmaceutical field in Russia and the CIS.
Lidings has recently successfully defended interests of large pharmaceutical companies in a number of patent-related disputes:
- Representing an innovative US company in a Russian patent dispute related to registering a generic long before the patent was to expire (settled in court)
- A series of patent disputes in Belarus on the infringement and validity of a patent in the process of state procurement of a generic drug (the patent was held valid, the court found an infringement)
- A patent dispute in Georgia on unlawful supplies of a generic from a neighbouring state, where the court issued injunctive relief against the infringer (settled in court)
- A series of patent disputes in Latvia on preventing a threat of patent infringements caused by registrations of generics (settled out of court)
- A series of patent disputes on the validity of a patent and its prolongation in Russia for a subsidiary of a Swiss manufacturer of pharmaceuticals
When involved in such projects, the experts at Lidings are actively researching the peculiarities of the legislation and related practice, focusing on studying all of the circumstances of a given case. In any jurisdiction, Lidings closely works with local counsel, patent attorneys, and private investigators, as well as arranges for active liaising with state authorities.
Our approach is to diligently monitor and detect patent-related conflicts. When such a conflict is identified, our team proceeds to make every effort to resolve it quickly and efficiently.
The experts at Lidings have accumulated considerable experience of dealing with such disputes and are always ready to render high-quality support in protecting patent rights in the pharmaceutical sector.