The company said that on February 13, 2008, the Hague District Court in the Netherlands, has decided to revoke the Dutch part of Merck Sharp & Dohme’s or MSD European patent due to lack of inventive step, which relates to Fosamax once weekly (alendronate 70mg once weekly). This decision is currently being litigated by Teva in Belgium, France, Italy, Sweden and Spain as well as in the European Patent Office.
And on February 15, 2008, the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris, decided that MSD Somerset’s supplementary protection certificate SPC 96C0032 covering the use of alendronate for the treatment of urolithiase and bone resorption was invalid for lack of inventive step.