On 24 January 2022, Mr Justice Meade handed down the latest main judgment in the ongoing litigation between Neurim (and Flynn) and Generics (UK) Ltd (trading as Viatris but formerly trading as Mylan), which has swiftly been followed by a further short judgment from Mr Justice Marcus Smith.
While no issue estoppel arose on the facts of this case, the Court nonetheless recognised the importance of avoiding a costly full, further trial of issues that had already been litigated between the same parties. Meade J’s approach of managing the situation by sending the case back to Marcus Smith J illustrates an approach which could potentially be applied in future cases involving divisional patents. The court’s flexibility has also meant that Neurim has been able to preserve the possibility of obtaining a final injunction based on its divisional in the very short window before patent expiry, although this will depend on whether Mylan is successful in seeking permission to appeal directly from the Court of Appeal.
A more detailed case summary is available on request, including a deeper dive into issue estoppel, abuse of process and the approach to case management.
