Biogen Sufficiency Reconsidered

Abstract:     
In 2009 the House of Lords reconsidered Biogen sufficiency – a rule in UK patent law that confers jurisdiction upon courts to revoke unduly broad patent claims. Here a quite separate reconsideration of the rule is undertaken, with a primary focus upon its provenance and its relationship to the EPC. It will be shown that Biogen sufficiency has a basis in the EPC and that this basis both: (i) inscribed a modest line of UK sufficiency authorities, and (ii) had a material, albeit background, influence upon the acceptance of the rule in Biogen v Medeva. Following this examination of its origins, a critique of the rule will be offered with a suggestion that its conceptual foundation should be reconsidered.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 33

Keywords: Biogen sufficiency, patent law

JEL Classification: K00, K19, K39

Accepted Paper Series