Good faith in Canada Patent practice : Lundbeck V Ratiopharm raises the bar
GOODFAITHINCANADIANPATENTPRACTICE:LUNDBECKV
RATIOPHARM
RAISESTHEBAR
LOUIS-PIERREGRAVELLEANDDANIELC.SMITH*
ROBIC,
LLP
L
AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKAGENTS
InLundbeckCanadaInc.etal.vratiopharminc.etal.
i,theCanadianFederal
Court–Trialdivision-foundthatmisleadingstatementsmadebyanapplicant
showedalackofgoodfaithwhichinvalidatedthesubsequentpatent.
Background
Paragraph73(1)(a)oftheCanadianPatentAct(“Act”)statesthatapatent
application“shallbedeemedtobeabandonediftheapplicantdoesnot…replyin
goodfaithtoanyrequisitionmadebyanexaminer”.
UntilLundbeck,theonlydecisionwhichseriouslyconsideredthescopeof
paragraph73(1)(a)wasG.D.Searle&Co.v.Novopharm
iiwhereinJusticeHughes
likenedtheprocessofapplyingforapatenttoanexparteproceeding:“onlythe
applicantandthePatentOfficeexaminerareinvolvedindialogue”(at72)andthat
“[i]tisnotharshorunreasonable,ifafterapatentissues,thedisclosureisfoundto
lackgoodfaith,thattheCourtmaydeemstheapplicationandthusthepatentto
havebeenabandoned”(at73).
However,betweenG.D.SearleandLundbeck,theCourts’pronouncements
regardingcandourandgoodfaithhavebeeninconsistentatbest.JusticeShore
seeminglycontradictedJusticeHughesinJanssen-OrthoInc.vApotexInc.
iiiin
remarkingthat“[w]hileadutyofcandourandgoodfaithexistsduringthe
prosecutionofpatentapplicationsintheUnitedStatesPatentOffice,asimilarduty
doesnotexistinCanada”(at201).ThiscontrastwasremarkeduponbyJustice
Hugheshimself,priortoLundbeck,inMycogenPlantScienceInc.vBayeretal.
iv,
wherehecontrastedthestancestakeninG.D.SearleandJanssen-Orthoand
©CIPS,2010.*OfROBIC,LLPamultidisciplinaryfirmoflawyers,patentagentsandtrade-markagents.Theauthor
wishestothankSimonPicard,articlingstudentatROBIC,
LLP,forhisvaluableresearchand
contributiontothisarticle.PublishedintheMay2010issueofIntellectualPropertyMagazine.
Publication062.041.
2
concludedthat“[g]iventheuncertaintyofthestateofthelawastothedutyof
candour,Icannotfindthatitisplainandobviousthatapleaoflackofcandour
cannotsucceedifappropriatereliefasaresultcanbeclaimed”(at19).
ProsecutionofCA2,426,492
InresponsetoarequestfromtheCanadianexaminer,Lundbeckidentifiedtwo
referencescitedduringtheapplication’sinternationalphase.Indoingso,Lundbeck
neithercommentedonnorprovidedcopiesofthesereferences.
Later,andinresponsetotheexaminer’srejectionoftheclaimsforbeingdirectedto
amereaggregationoftwoknowntypesofcompounds,Lundbeckstatedthat“there
werenumerousarticlesinthepriorartwhichwarnedagainst[theclaimed
combination]”andbroughtforwardfourreferencestobackupthisassertion.
Lundbeckfurtherstatedthattheclaimedcombination“wouldthushavebeen
counter-intuitiveanddefinitelyimprobable…inviewofthepriorartavailableatthe
timeoffiling”(emphasisadded)andthat“theteachingsofthepriorartasawhole
wouldnothavepromptedtheskilledperson…toelaboratetheinstantcomposition”
(emphasisadded).
UnfortunatelyforLundbeck,oneofthetwopreviouslyidentifiedreferences,“Wenk”,
notonlycontradictedtheseassertionsbutwasinfactfarmorepertinenttothe
claimedsubjectmatterthananyofthefourreferencesdiscussedinLundbeck’s
response.Thisdidnotcometotheexaminer’sattentionandtheapplicationwas
subsequentlyallowed.
FederalCourtdecision
Inherconclusions,JusticeMactavishechoedtheparallelsJusticeHughesdrewto
exparteproceedingsandnotedthatapartyseekingexparterelief“mustdomore
thansimplypresentitsowncaseinthebestpossiblelight,aswouldbethecaseif
theothersidewerepresent.Rather,theapplicantmuststatehisorherowncase
fairlyandmustinformtheCourtofanypointsoffactorlawknowntoitwhichfavour
theotherside”(at331).
InignoringWenk,Lundbeck“didnotfairlyoraccuratelyrepresentthestateofthe
priorart”(at341)andhadfailedtofulfillitsdutyofgoodfaithimposedbyparagraph
73(1)(a)oftheAct.Theapplicationwasthereforeretroactivelyabandonedand
Lundbeck’spatentinvalid.
3
ComparisonwithUSlaw
37CFR1.56oftheU.S.PatentRulessetsoutthat“[e]achindividualassociatedwith
thefilingandprosecutionofapatentapplicationhasadutyofcandorandgoodfaith
indealingwiththeOffice,whichincludesadutytodisclosetotheOfficeall
informationknowntothatindividualtobematerialtopatentability…nopatentwill
begrantedonanapplicationinconnectionwithwhichfraudontheOfficewas
practicedorattemptedorthedutyofdisclosurewasviolatedthroughbadfaithor
intentionalmisconduct”(emphasisadded).
Twodistinctionsarise:first,infindingthepatentinvalidJusticeMactavishdidnot
commentonwhetherLundbeck’stransgressionwaseitherintentionalormaterial.
Althoughnotatissueinthiscase,section53(1)oftheActstatesthat“apatentis
void…ifthespecificationordrawingscontainmoreorlessthanisnecessaryfor
obtainingtheendforwhichtheypurporttobemade,andtheomissionoradditionis
wilfullymadeforthepurposeofmisleading
”(emphasisadded).Crucially,paragraph
73(1)(a)containsnosuchqualification.Moreover,ratiopharminsistedthatitwasnot
allegingLundbeckactedinbadfaith,butrathershowedsimplyalackofgoodfaith.
Indeed,regardingmateriality,JusticeMactavishfoundthatWenkneitheranticipated
norrenderedobviousLundbeck’sclaims.
Murkier,however,istheseconddistinction:thedutyofcandourintheU.S.includes
anongoingdutytodiscloseallknownreferencestotheexaminer.TheCanadian
PatentRulesestablishamechanismwherebyanexaminermayrequestthatan
applicantidentifyallpriorartreferencescitedincorrespondingapplications,butthis
requestisneitherautomaticnorongoing.WhetherornotJusticeMactavish’s
commentsthatanapplicant“mustinformtheCourtofanypointsoffactorlaw
knowntoitwhichfavourtheotherside”extendsnowtoapositive,ongoingdutyof
disclosureremainstobeseen.
Practicalconsiderations
Firstandforemost,Canadianpatentagentsmustbecarefulnottooverstatetheir
casewhencharacterisingthepriorart.Whenpossible,discussionshouldbelimited
tothecited
priorartandbroadstatementsregardingthepriorart“asawhole”
shouldbeavoidedinparticular.
Secondly,aCanadianpatent’sfilewrapperhasgonefrombeinglargelyirrelevantto
validitytonowbeingextremelyrelevant.Anymischaracterisationormisleading
statement,howeverunintentionalorimmaterial,couldseeminglynowbeconsidered
alackofgoodfaithandgroundsforinvalidityundersection73(1)(a)oftheAct.
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5
i(2009)FC1102ii(2007)FC81;iii(2008)FC744iv(2009)FC1013