Christopher Leung
Christopher is an Associate in the IP Protection and Enforcement Group at Fieldfisher. His experience spans a broad range of IP rights including patents and SPCs, trade marks, copyright, database rights and domain names.
Christopher has a particular interest in litigation in the life sciences field and has experience of patent and SPC proceedings before the UK Intellectual Property Office, Patents Court, Court of Appeal and Court of Justice of the European Union, including acting as lead assistant in Sandoz Ltd & Anor v G.D. Searle LLC & Anor and Master Data Center, Inc. v The Comptroller General of Patents.
Christopher also advises clients on the management of their global trade mark portfolios and the enforcement of their soft IP rights, and has acted in various high profile soft IP disputes including Karen Millen v Karen Millen Fashions Ltd & Anor (trade marks) and 77m Ltd v Ordnance Survey Ltd (copyright and database rights).
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 2016
Membership
- AIPPI
- IPSoc
Qualifications
- BSc Chemistry (2010)
- GDL (2011)
- LPC (2014)
- PGDip Intellectual Property Law and Practice (2017)
Education
- Imperial College London (2010)
- BPP Law School (2011)
- Kaplan Law School (2014)
- University of Oxford (2017)
3 Contributions by Christopher Leung
PRACTICE NOTES
Biotechnology patentability in the UK and EU: Directive 98/44/EC, EPC Article 53(b), PA 1977 Sch A2, key CJEU/EPO case law, exclusions, and compulsory cross-licences
This Practice Note outlines which biotechnological inventions may and may not be patented. It cites Directive 98/44/EC (commonly called the Biotechnology Directive) and Schedule A2 to the Patents Act 1977 (PA 1977), which allow patents for biotechnological inventions while setting key exceptions. Those exceptions have been interpreted by the Court of Justice in cases including Oliver Brüstle v Greenpeace and Monsanto v Cefetra. The Note also reviews exclusions from patentability under Article 52(b) of the European Patent Convention (EPC) and pertinent European Patent Office (EPO) decisions, Tomatoes I, Tomatoes II and Broccoli II. It also takes account of the 2017 European Commission Notice on biotechnological inventions.
Patenting biotechnological inventions
As a general rule, biotechnological inventions are patentable. Although neither PA 1977 nor the EPC imposes a blanket prohibition, specific provisions control when such inventions can be protected (see: The regulatory framework for biotechnology patents below). Additionally, in practice, some biotechnological subject-matter, even if not expressly barred, may fail the standard thresholds of novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability. For further detail on these criteria, see Practice Note: Patentability and exclusions from patentability...
Life Sciences
PRACTICE NOTES
EU supplementary protection certificates and paediatric extensions: eligibility, duration, applications, manufacturing waiver, CJEU case law, and reforms including unitary SPCs, biotech SPC extension and crisis compulsory licensing
This Practice Note introduces supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) and paediatric extensions (PEs) in the EU. It sets out why they were created, when and how to seek them, and their duration. It also reviews leading Court of Justice rulings interpreting Regulation (EC) 469/2009 and Regulation (EC) 1610/96, the regimes governing SPCs for medicinal products and plant protection products (PPPs) in the EU...
Supplementary protection certificates (SPCs)
What is an SPC?
An SPC continues the protection afforded by a patent for a specific medicinal or plant protection product for up to five years, subject to meeting defined criteria (see: Conditions for obtaining an SPC in an EU Member State below). It does not prolong the patent term for subject-matter beyond the SPC’s scope and is therefore not a ‘patent term extension’ in itself. The rights conferred by an SPC in relation to the product mirror those granted by the underlying patent. For further detail on patents, see Practice Note: Introduction to patents. An SPC is a national right and, in the EU, operates at that level...
EU Law
PRACTICE NOTES
UK SPCs and paediatric extensions for medicinal and plant protection products: regime, applications, duration, manufacturing waiver, and leading CJEU/UK case law post‑Brexit and under the Windsor Framework
This Practice Note introduces supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) and paediatric extensions (PEs) in the UK. It outlines the reasons for their creation, when and how to apply, and how long they run. It also reviews leading rulings on SPCs from the courts of England and Wales, together with UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) guidance on SPC procedure...
It further surveys numerous references to the Court of Justice on the interpretation of Regulation (EC) 469/2009 and Regulation (EC) 1610/96, which regulate SPCs for medicinal products and plant protection products within the EU (and, before Brexit, in the UK). The resulting Court of Justice decisions have defined the scope of SPC protection across the EU and the UK. For guidance on whether Court of Justice rulings bind UK courts, see Practice Note: Assimilated law—Assimilated case law. For a discussion confined to the EU SPC regime, see Practice Note: Supplementary protection certificates and paediatric extensions—EU...
Supplementary protection certificates (SPCs)
What is an SPC?
An SPC prolongs the protection provided by a patent for a specific plant protection or medicinal product by up to five years, subject to certain conditions...
Life Sciences
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