T 1423/07 (Cyclic Amine derivative/BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM VETMEDICA GmbH) of 19.4.2010

European Case Law Identifier: ECLI:EP:BA:2010:T142307.20100419
Date of decision: 19 April 2010
Case number: T 1423/07
Application number: 03771064.7
IPC class: A61K 31/55
Language of proceedings: EN
Distribution: B
Download and more information:
Decision text in EN (PDF, 38 KB)
Documentation of the appeal procedure can be found in the Register
Bibliographic information is available in: EN
Versions: Unpublished
Title of application: Use of a specific cyclic amine derivative or the pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof for the treatment or prevention of heart failure
Applicant name: Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica GmbH
Opponent name: -
Board: 3.3.02
Headnote: 1. In view of the fact that there are no principles of law generally recognised in the Contracting States for refusing a patent application for double patenting, refusal of a European patent application for double patenting cannot be based on Article 125 EPC.
2. If double patenting arises from internal priority, the applicant has a legitimate interest in the grant of the subsequent application claiming priority from an already granted European application with identical claims and identical Designated Contracting States in view of the fact that the filing date and not the priority date is the relevant date for calculating the 20-year term of the patent.
3. Article 60 EPC cannot be used as a basis for refusing a European patent application for double patenting either. In particular, Article 60 EPC cannot be interpreted such that the inventor or his successor in title has a right to the grant of one and only one patent from the EPO for a particular invention, with the consequence that claims comprising subject-matter included in the claims of an already granted patent of the same applicant are refused no matter whether or not the applicant has a legitimate interest in the grant of the subsequent application.
Relevant legal provisions:
European Patent Convention Art 60
European Patent Convention Art 63(1)
European Patent Convention Art 97(2)
European Patent Convention Art 125
European Patent Convention Art 112(1)(a)
Rules of procedure of the Boards of Appeal Art 21
Guidelines for examination in the EPO C-IV, 6(4) (June 2005)
Section 18(5) UK Patents Act
Section 73(2) UK Patents Act
Section 31(5) IRISH Patents Act
L.614-13 Code de la Propriété Intellectuelle
L.614-14 Code de la Propriété Intellectuelle
§ 40(5) Deutsches Patentgesetz
Paris Convention Art 4a(5)
Keywords: Main request: refusal of the application for double patenting - (no)
No basis in the EPC
Catchwords:

-

Cited decisions:
G 0001/05
G 0001/06
T 0587/98
T 0307/03
Citing decisions:
T 2461/10
T 2563/11
T 0318/14

Source: http://www.epo.org/law-practice/case-law-appeals/recent/t071423eu1.html

Date retrieved: 17 May 2021

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