European Commission publishes its seventh monitoring report on patent settlement agreements

• 14/12/2016
• Articles

On 13 December 2016, the European Commission published its seventh monitoring report on patent settlement agreements between originators and generic companies in the pharmaceutical sector covering the period January to December 2015. Patent settlement agreements are commercial agreements to settle patent-related disputes, such as those relating to patent infringement or patent validity. The Commission generally considers that the parties may have a legitimate interest in finding a mutually acceptable compromise to end a dispute because litigation is costly, time consuming and/or risky as regards its outcome. Still, the Commission considers that patent settlement agreements may in specific circumstances be problematic under EU competition law, specifically if they limit generic entry while involving a value transfer from the originator to the generic company.

According to the new report, 90% of the settlement agreements were unproblematic from an EU competition law perspective, while the rest is likely to attract the highest degree of antitrust scrutiny.

The Commission’s report is accessible here.