The challenge to validity was made by way of an application by Generics UK for a declaration that the supplementary protection certificate (SPC) and the patent on which it was based were invalid. The court held that the attacks made against both the SPC and the European patent failed.
Daiichi Sankyo has granted an exclusive license to Sanofi-Aventis to make, use and sell pharmaceutical preparations containing levofloxacin in the UK. Sanofi-Aventis markets levofloxacin products in the UK under the trade name Tavanic.
SPC is an intellectual property right that extends the protection of a patented pharmaceutical product (or a plant protection product) after the expiry of the patent.