The judgment, authored by Justice Marshall Rothstein, upheld Canadian pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis's patent for Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate), a popular blood clot inhibitor, rejecting generic drug company Apotex's claims that the patent was invalid for anticipation, obviousness and double patenting.
In 2003, Apotex served a Notice of Allegation on Sanofi-Aventis to obtain a Notice of Compliance from the Minister of Health to market its generic version of Plavix before Sanofi's patent had expired.
Apotex claimed that the Plavix patent was invalid on the grounds of anticipation, obviousness and double patenting, since the compound on which the patent was based had been disclosed in an earlier patent, also owned by Sanofi-Aventis.
Sanofi-Aventis successfully blocked the issuance of the Notice of Compliance and the Federal Court of Appeal upheld the decision. The Supreme Court agreed to hear Apotex's appeal, and on Thursday it upheld the Plavix patent.
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