Kim O’Connell, patent and pharmaceutical law specialist at Mallesons, spoke yesterday at IIR’s 2nd Annual Pharmaceutical Law Conference in Sydney.
She joined other experts in the field including Odette Gourley of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Wayne Condon of Griffith Hack, Carolyn Oddie of Allens Arthur Robinson and Lisa Taliadoros of Gilbert + Tobin to share her thoughts on the implications of some recent patent cases which have been handed down by the Federal Court.
Kim provided some useful insights into claim construction, “work arounds”, the validity of patents claiming an isolated enantiomer of a known racemate and extensions of terms of enantiomer patents. She also discussed the impact of recent decisions concerning the test for innovative step and the application of the “grace period” to divisional patents.
Kim also analysed two recent trends in patent litigation relating to applications for interlocutory injunctions to restrain the launch of generic pharmaceutical products and applications for preliminary discovery to identify companies intending to launch generic pharmaceutical products.
The presentation highlighted the need for pharmaceutical companies to keep abreast of recent developments and the opportunities resulting from recent cases.
