10 November 2017Big Pharma

LSIPR 50 2017: Mr Justice Richard Arnold

Name: Mr Justice Richard Arnold

Organisation: English High Court

Position: Judge

The fate of life sciences companies has often lain in the hands of Mr Justice Arnold since he was appointed judge in charge of the English Patents Court in 2013.

Since January 2016, Arnold has ruled in around 20 patent disputes involving drugs companies. One of his most recent rulings was in Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics v AbbVie. Here he granted Fujifilm an Arrow declaration allowing it to market a biosimilar of AbbVie’s Humira (adalimumab), a medication used to treat arthritis.

Arnold has also referred cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union, for example in the dispute between Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) and the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO). The case was an appeal by MSD against a previous decision handed down by the IPO which rejected its application for a supplementary protection certificate.

Arnold has been an external member of the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office since March 2016.

After gaining his master’s degree from the University of Oxford and diploma in law from the University of Westminster, Arnold was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1985.

Appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 2000, he became chairman of the Code of Practice for the Promotion of Animal Medicines Committee. He was an appointed person hearing trademark appeals from 2003 to 2008, and a deputy High Court judge from 2004 to 2008. He was appointed to the High Court, Chancery Division in October 2008.

Arnold is the author of legal publication Performers’ Rights and editor of Trade Marks and Trade Names. He has also previously been editor of Entertainment and Media Law Reports.


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