Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPC)

The supplementary protection certifi cates (SPC) protect some of the most valuable products in the pharmaceutical industry. At the same time, the requirements for obtaining such protection, the scope of protection, etc. are highly disputed and have been the subject of numerous decisionsof the ECJ.

In this context, German jurisprudence on SPC is of special importance, as this has often been the basis for decisions of the ECJ. Furthermore, the German market is one of the leading markets for pharmaceuticals and thus for SPC.