Pharmaceutical inventions have been the subject of special provisions in the past, the likes of which have not been applied to other inventions. Furthermore, pharmaceuticals are the subject of much government regulation outside of the patent system.
CAFC confirms that an invention is only obvious and ineligible for a patent where a skilled person would have had a “reasonable expectation of success.”
2018 FCA 32 - The FCA dismissed Apotex’s appeal challenging the remedial decision, regarding Bayer's Canadian Patent No. 2,382,426, holding that subsection 57(1) of the Patent Act did not grant a defendant in a patent infringement suit the right to choose an accounting of profits over damages to be paid to the patentee.
2017 FC 726 - The FC held that Apotex did not satisfy the factual burden required to establish a hypothetically viable non-infringing substitute during the period of infringement, which could reduce the infringement profits owed to AstraZeneca.
2017 FC 857 - The Federal Court upheld the Minister of Health’s decision to cancel reconsideration for Apo-Omeprazole Magnesium Tablets manufactured by Apotex Inc. This is yet another failed attempt by Apotex to obtain approval for the magnesium tablet form of its anti-ulcer drug.
2017 FCA 201 - The FCA upheld the FC’s ruling against Apotex, that Pfizer's failure to pay the proper final fee for the issuance of a Canadian patent will not invalidate the patent.