UCB moves to the Delhi High Court against Cipla & IPO

Press Trust of India (PTI) reported that Global Biopharma major UCB Farchim yesterday approached the Delhi High Court against the Indian generic manufacturer Cipla and the Indian Patent office over rejection of its patent for a new anti-allergic drug. In its petition, UCB requested the court to quash the order passed by the Controller General of Patents on July 24, 2009, rejecting its claims. Admitting the petition, Justice S Murlidhar posted the matter for hearing on January 28, 2010. Indian Patent Office rejected UCB’s claim on the grounds of lack of inventive steps. In the process of rejection, Cipla filed a pre-grant opposition on December 04, 2008. However, news report does not mentioned information about drug name or the patent application number. Even a quick search at the official website of Indian Patent Office does not reveal any Controller’s decision for any UCB patent application. We will appreciate if any of our reader can bring more clarity over the drug and patent number in issue.