Deconstructing Actavis v Eli Lilly

The Supreme Court's decision in Actavis v Eli Lilly [2017] UKSC 48 has changed the way that the UK courts will determine the extent of protection of a patent's claim. Prior to this decision, since the House of Lords' decision in Catnic Components v Hill [1982] RPC 183 the UK courts has used "purposive construction" in order to establish the scope of a patent's claim.

As famously explained by Lord Hoffmann in the seminal decision of the House of Lords in Kirin Amgen v Hoechst Marion Roussel [2005] RPC 9 the crux of purposive construction is to determine "what the person skilled…

Full article available on PatentHub

Latest insights

More Insights
featured image

Mitigating the legal risks of licencing in open-source software and database elements

7 minutes Jun 17 2025

Read More
featured image

The UPC turns two!

2 minutes Jun 16 2025

Read More
Curiosity line blue background

SG Trade Marks Fast Programme: Accelerated Examination for Local Applications in Singapore

Jun 12 2025

Read More