Supplementary Protection Certificates
We are the firm of reference in Spain for filing and prosecuting SPC applications
Our expertise in SPCs is your best partner
Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs), and the associated pediatric extensions, are key assets of the pharmaceutical industry for extending the duration of the protection of medicaments and maintaining the exclusivity and sales in the last years of the patent life cycle. They are economically very valuable.
The case law relating to SPCs is highly complex and rapidly evolving, but we are at the forefront of the law in this very specialized area. We have solved difficult situations and obtained effective protection for blockbuster drugs.
SPCs for active ingredients
So far, we have directly handled the prosecution of more than 160 SPC applications at the Spanish Patent & Trademark Office, and coordinated the filing and prosecution of several SPC families in other European countries for important active ingredients.
Over the years we have acquired a lot of experience in the European Regulation 469/2009, dealing with all sort of objections arising from the SPC prosecution practice before the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office and the Spanish administrative courts. Also in infringement and nullity proceedings relating to SPCs.
For example, we were coordinating SPC applications in several countries for the product Circadin (melatonin) for our client Neurim Pharmaceuticals. This resulted in a referral and decision of the Court of Justice of the EU that changed the game and opened the door to obtaining additional SPCs for second medical uses of medicaments.
Our specialist in this category
Juan Arias
Managing PartnerJuan cofounded ABG in 2003. He has more than 30 years of experience in IP
Enric Carbonell
PartnerEnric is European Patent Attorney and is partner in charge of the Barcelona office. He has more than 25 years of experience in IP
Almudena Fernández
PartnerAlmudena is European Patent Attorney. She holds a PhD in Chemistry and is a partner in the Chemistry & Materials and Pharma Departments
Tomás Llamas
AssociateTomás is European Patent Attorney since 2012. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and is an associate in the Chemistry & Materials Department
Marta Rodríguez
AssociateMarta is an European Patent Attorney and Spanish Patent and Trademark Agent. She is an associate in the Chemistry & Materials Department
Sofia Pettersson
AssociateSofia is European Patent Attorney (EQE, 2015). She holds a PhD in Chemistry and is an associate in the Chemistry & Materiales Department
Iain A. McGeoch
AssociateIain is European Patent Attorney and holds a M.Sc. in Medicinal Chemistry.He is an associate and responsible for ABG’s Basque Country office
André Santos
AssociateAndré is European Patent Attorney and he holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry. He joined ABG in 2016
Virginia Gómez
Patent AdviserVirginia is an European Patent Attorney and Spanish Patent and Trademark Agent. She holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering
Frédéric Ratel
Patent AdviserFrédéric is an European Patent Attorne and he holds a PhD in Chemistry
Ana Herreros
Patent AdviserAna holds a Ph.D. in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science and Technology and she is Spanish Patent and Trademark Agent
Giovanni Bottari
Patent AdviserGiovanni holds a PhD in Chemistry Sciences. He joined ABG in 2021 and is a patent adviser in the Chemistry & Materials Department
Estefanía del Horno
Patent AdviserEstefanía joined ABG in 2023. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and works as patent advisor in the Chemistry & Materials Department.
