08 November 2013

Patents

Catching up with GlaxoSmithKline Australia Pty Ltd v Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare (UK) Ltd [2013] FCAFC 102, with the Federal Court of Australia Full Court allowing the appeal of GlaxoSmithKline Australia Pty Ltd against a second interlocutory judgment restraining GSK from marketing its Children's Panadol 1-5 Years with an alternative syringe that GSK acknowledges is a “design-around” for the device marketed by Reckitt for delivery of its Nurofen analgesic. The preceding judgment is Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare (UK) Ltd v GlaxoSmithKline Australia Pty Ltd (No 2) [2013] FCA 736.

The FCAFC found that the alternative syringe did not infringe the patent of Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare (UK) Ltd.

The Court also found that the balance of convenience tilted in favour of GSK, as there was no reasonable option available in supplying the apparatus without the bottle neck liner and that there was a strong public interest in consumers having the option to choose between Children’s Panadol 1-5 years with a safe dispensing system and other paediatric analgesics.