Suisse - Développement de médicaments pédiatriques dès le 1er janvier 2019

Afin d’encourager le développement de médicaments pédiatriques, il sera possible, à l’avenir, de prolonger la durée de protection de médicaments spécialement conçus pour cette tranche d’âge. Le 21 septembre 2018, le Conseil fédéral a fixé la date de l’entrée en vigueur des modifications requises à cet effet dans la loi sur les brevets et l'ordonnance s’y rapportant : la nouvelle réglementation s’appliquera dès le 1er janvier 2019.
 En vue de promouvoir le développement de médicaments spécialement conçus pour cette tranche d’âge, la loi sur les brevets prévoit de nouvelles incitations : les fabricants de médicaments qui réalisent des études pédiatriques sur des médicaments et démontrent les possibilités de leur utilisation chez les enfants obtiennent une prolongation de six mois de la protection de leurs brevets. Cette "prolongation pédiatrique", comme on l'appelle, a pour but de compenser, du moins en partie, les coûts supplémentaires de recherche et développement.

 https://www.ejpd.admin.ch/dam/data/ejpd/aktuell/news/2018/2018-09-21/ber-erfindungspatente-f.pdf

OREO vs TWINS - cookies with reputation

In case C‑487/07 the European Court of Justice clarified the European trademarks "with reputation" enjoy a broader level of protection under EU trademark law. Trademark owners that are able to show that their European Trademarks are known to a large portion of the public can not only act against younger identical and confusingly similar trademarks that are used for similar goods or services, but also against younger similar trademarks for goods/services that are not similar. This higher level of protection is only applicable if the use of the allegedly infringing trademark is without due cause and would take unfair advantage of, or be detrimental to, the distinctive character or reputation of the earlier EUTM. Therefore, OREO had gained reputation over the years, consumers will likely consider TWINS to be a possible replacement of the OREO cookies on the grounds of similar quality characteristics. In other words, TWINS is taking unfair advantage of the reputation and investment of OREO as a trademark:
http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?docid=75459&doclang=en

European Inventor Award

The European Inventor Award promotes the patent system by telling the stories of successful inventors, and showing how patents have helped them to secure value, raise investment and create jobs. 
The Award is unique in that it honours inventors not only for the genius of their scientific or technological breakthroughs, but also for the impact their invention has on society and the economy, putting a spotlight on the individuals behind the inventions that are changing our lives for the better.
The nomination period for the 2019 edition of the European Inventor Award has started and will end on 28 September 2018.
The nominations are accepted under five different categories:

• Industry
• Research
• Non-EPO countries
• SMEs
• Lifetime achievement

For more information about the European Inventor Award, please visiti EPO website