No More Promises: Canada Dumps Doctrine Judging Patent Utility

摘要

On June 30, the Supreme Court of Canada allowed an appeal by AstraZeneca Canada Inc. of a ruling that its Canadian Patent No. 2,139,653 was invalid for lack of utility under Canada's "promise doctrine," as the patent promised more than what it could provide. This is a landmark decision in Canada, as the Supreme Court has essentially done away with a controversial and often contested doctrine that was previously applied to the analysis of the disclosure of a patent and the utility of the invention described therein (AstraZeneca Canada Inc. v. Apotex Inc., 2017 SCC 36).