Sanofi v Parke Davis Pty Ltd

Sanofi Pty Ltd (Sanofi) and Parke Davis Pty Ltd (Parke Davis) were parties to litigation concerning the validity of a patent. The dispute ultimately came before the High Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the patent held by Sanofi was valid, specifically in relation to the inventiveness of the claimed subject matter. This involved an examination of whether the invention, as described in the patent, was obvious to a person skilled in the relevant art at the time of the patent application.

The High Court considered the principles of inventiveness and obviousness under Australian patent law. Their Honours analysed the prior art and the steps taken by the patentee to arrive at the claimed invention. The Court applied the established tests for assessing inventiveness, focusing on whether the invention represented a sufficient departure from what was already known to warrant the grant of a patent. The reasoning involved a careful consideration of the evidence presented regarding the state of knowledge in the field at the relevant time and the degree of ingenuity required to achieve the patented outcome.

The High Court found that the patent was invalid for want of inventiveness.