Compliance of Canada’s Utility Doctrine with International Minimum Standards of Patent Protection

Authors

Jerome H. Reichman, Duke Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2014

Keywords

NAFTA, TRIPS, utility doctrine, patent law, intellectual property

Abstract

This article analyzes the Canadian court case of Eli Lilly v. Novopharm and the "utility" doctrine in Canada, and international standards of patent protection including TRIPS and NAFTA. The ‘‘promise of the patent’’ doctrine in Canada seeks to ensure that firms do not obtain a legal monopoly on the basis of speculative claims about increased utility — especially claims about therapeutic efficacy — that were unsubstantiated at the time of filing. Under this test, some of Eli Lilly’s patented pharmaceutical products have been invalidated retroactively.

Citation

Jerome H. Reichman, Compliance of Canada's Utility Doctrine with International Minimum Standards of Patent Protection, Proceedings of the 108th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law (forthcoming)