23.10.2010

Official Journal of the European Union

C 288/11

(Case C-66/09) (*)

(Patent law - Proprietary medicinal products - Regulation (EEC) No 1768/92 - Articles 7, 19 and 19a(e) - Supplementary protection certificate for medicinal products - Period for lodging the application for such a certificate)

(2010/C 288/17)

Language of the case: Lithuanian

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Kirin Amgen Inc.

Defendant: Lietuvos Respublikos valstybinis patentų biuras

Intervener: Amgen Europe BV

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Lietuvos Aukščiausiasis Teismas — Interpretation of Articles 3(b), 7(1), 13(1), 19 and 23 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1768/92 of 18 June 1992 concerning the creation of a supplementary protection certificate for medicinal products (OJ 1992 L 182, p. 1) — Company holding a European patent and a Community marketing authorisation for a medicinal product, which applied for a supplementary protection certificate for that product — Determination of the commencement date of the period laid down for lodging an application for a supplementary protection certificate — Date on which the marketing authorisation was granted or date on which the regulation in question entered into force for Lithuania through its accession to the European Union

Operative part of the judgment

Articles 7 and 19a(e) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1768/92 of 18 June 1992 concerning the creation of a supplementary protection certificate for medicinal products, as amended by the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded, must be interpreted as not allowing the holder of a valid basic patent in respect of a product to apply to the competent Lithuanian authorities, within six months of the date upon which the Republic of Lithuania acceded to the European Union, for the grant of a supplementary protection certificate where an authorisation to place that product on the market as a medicinal product was obtained more than six months before accession under Council Regulation (EEC) No 2309/93 of 22 July 1993 laying down Community procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human and veterinary use and establishing a European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products, but the product did not obtain a marketing authorisation in Lithuania.

(*) Language of the case: Lithuanian.