Last week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and pharmaceutical industry hailed a judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada.
In AstraZeneca v. Apotex, the court upheld the validity of AstraZeneca’s patent on its Nexium acid reflux treatment, and ruled that it will not recognize challenges based on the “promise of the patent.” That doctrine held that if a patent application promises a specific utility, then the patent is valid only if that promise is fulfilled. The doctrine prompted Eli Lilly and Co. to sue Canada in 2013 for $500 million on the theory that the country violated the North American Free Trade Agreement by adding a new patent validity requirement.
