Tribunal Rules Against Lilly's $375 Million Drug Patent Claim

摘要

A North American Free Trade Agreement panel has ruled against Eli Lilly and Co.'s $375 million (C$500 million) claim that Canadian courts aren't sufficiently protecting patents for prescription drugs. The ruling could confirm that pharmaceutical companies can't use NAFTA's protection for investors to challenge how courts interpret Canada's Patent Act. Even if Lilly was correct on the legal standards for its allegations that Canadian courts took an arbitrary and discriminatory approach to protecting its patents, the company failed to prove its claim, the three-member panel said in its March 16 ruling, made public March 20.