The Patents (Supplementary Protection Certificates) Rules 1997
Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1768/92 (a copy of which is set out in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to these Rules) created, and set out the conditions relating to applications for and the grant of, a supplementary protection certificate for medicinal products. Such a certificate, when granted, extends the protection afforded by a patent (“the basic patent”) in respect of a medicinal product covered by it for a period which extends to a period not more than five years from the date when it takes effect.