Hi Vororo,
I just visited the EPO website and saw the calendar about the hearing taking place in Munich.
Even more, I could see also the application number and the what I think it is "the basis of the dispute" :
register.epo.org/application?number=EP08732818&tab=main , where the title of the application "..... NUCLEOSIDE PHOSPHORAMIDATE PRODRUGS".
So.... I think it is going to be a long "chemical" hearing. For a simple citizen like me, completely outside the field of chemistry, if they are going to talk about formulas and substances ..... it will be kind of boring.
In any case, I really would like to understand the arguments of Gilead when it says that Sofosbuvir is innovative and deserves a patent and the arguments of the others which claim that Sofosbuvir is not so innovative as it is based on previous known knowledge. I've read the information published by I-MAK and the Indian patent rejection from 2015 about sofosbuvir, however I fear that for a non-chemist person, the arguments why Sofosbuvir is not so much an innovative drug are not very clear. And because of this low understanding about the degree of innovation in Sofosbuvir, people might easier believe whatever Gilead will claim.
By making a parallelism with the auto industry, I would imagine that Sofosbuvir's case looks like the case when a car manufacturer is patenting the newest automatic 2-clutches gearbox of a car, but instead of patenting that specific type of gearbox, it is patenting ALL types of automatic 2-clutches gearboxes, although other companies have already designed or are in the process of designing similar gearboxes. Therefore all other car producers are forced to use the gearbox from Gilead only. When speaking about drugs, yes, we do talk about chemical formula which for many of us is perhaps rocket science, however things cannot be much far away from the example just illustrated. In the end, there are chemist and specialists in other companies as well, not only by Gilead.
People need to really understand with a simple language this issue with the patent of Sofosbuvir and the degree of innovation, if any, it contains,
Hopefully more information will be available not before the hearing, rather after the hearing.
BR
RHF