Strict sufficiency

BeatrizSan Martin and Shishu Chen examine the recent Regeneron ruling in the UK SupremeCourt, and what it means for reliance on patents for second medical uses

Beatriz San Martin and ShishuChen, Arnold & Porter

When can a patent claiming a range of products for a ground-breakinginvention amounting to a principle of general application be sufficientlyenabled? This was the central question that needed to be addressed by the UK SupremeCourt in the Regeneron v Kymab case. The long-awaited answer came on 24June 2020 when the Supreme Court held that sufficiency requires “substantiallythe whole of the range of products within the scope of the claim to beenabled to be made by means of the disclosure in the patent” and this isirrespective of whether the patent discloses a principle of general application. ¹