On 23 October 2025, the ECJ dismissed Teva and Cephalon’s appeal against the General Court’s judgment, confirming the Commission’s infringement decision. In November 2020, the Commission fined Cephalon and Teva 30.5 M EUR and 30 M EUR respectively for a so-called “pay-for-delay” cartel.

💊 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝?
- In 2005, Cephalon and Teva concluded a patent settlement agreement with regard to the patent rights of Cephalon’s sleep disorder drug (modafinil).
- By this settlement agreement, Teva committed not to enter the market with its generic modafinil product, not to compete with Cephalon’s modafinil product and not to challenge Cephalon’s modafinil patent rights. In return, the settlement agreement contained a package of transactions, amongst which Teva’s appointment as exclusive distributor of Cephalon’s modafinil products in the UK for 5 years.
- Both the Commission (in 2020) and – on appeal – the General Court (in 2023) concluded that the settlement agreement was contrary to competition law.

⚖️ 𝐁𝐲 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? The ECJ endorsed that approach. It reaffirmed its case law and confirmed that patent dispute settlements may infringe competition law. Where the payment made by the patent holder goes beyond what is necessary to resolve the dispute or to remunerate genuine goods or services – and instead serves to compensate the other party for staying off the market – such conduct is presumed to be anti-competitive. This presumption applies without the need to demonstrate actual or potential effects on competition, qualifying it as a by object infringement.

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨? Read the full text of the judgment here: https://lnkd.in/ekYT2RfA

𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? Please do not hesitate to get in contact.

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