Hospira UK Ltd v Genentech, Inc

Hospira UK Ltd v Genentech, Inc

The court must start from the principle of open justice and only maintain confidentiality over documents referred to in public hearings if there are cogent, specific reasons and evidence of real harm. In this case, only certain documents (clinical trial blueprints) justified confidentiality, while others (summaries, data, and documents relevant to understanding the trial) did not meet the threshold for continued confidentiality.

Parties
Claimant: Hospira UK Limited; Defendant: Genentech, Inc
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
22 July 2014
Procedural Posture
Patent Litigation / Post Trial Application Regarding Confidentiality of Disclosed Documents
Outcome
Application allowed in part, refused in part
Legal Topics
Confidentiality of Court Documents, Use of Disclosed Documents, Patent Litigation, Open Justice
Intellectual Property Civil Procedure Confidentiality of Court Documents Use of Disclosed Documents Patent Litigation Open Justice

Case Brief

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Parties

Hospira UK Limited

Claimant

Genentech, Inc

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Patent Litigation / Post Trial Application Regarding Confidentiality of Disclosed Documents

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether certain documents disclosed during patent litigation should remain confidential after trial under CPR 31.22

Ratio Decidendi

The court must start from the principle of open justice and only maintain confidentiality over documents referred to in public hearings if there are cogent, specific reasons and evidence of real harm. In this case, only certain documents (clinical trial blueprints) justified confidentiality, while others (summaries, data, and documents relevant to understanding the trial) did not meet the threshold for continued confidentiality.

Court Disposition

Application allowed in part, refused in part

Orders

  • Confidentiality maintained for RCFL-8 and pages 10-54 of RHE-10 (clinical trial protocols).
  • Page 14 of RHE-6 to be made public; remainder of RHE-6 and RHE-7 remain confidential except page 14.