Daniel Alexander QC and Henry Ward acted for Generics (UK) Limited in a claim for revocation of an SPC (and associated patent) in relation to the active ingredient of the Alzheimer’s drug rivastigmine. The patent was to the enantiomer of a previously disclosed compound, RA7. Novartis alleged that the skilled man would have perceived there to be no benefit to resolving RA7 which was still at an early stage of drug development, and thus the separation of the enantiomer was inventive. The trial was expedited and came on in the space of just two months over the long vacation, taking place in the first week of September 2011. The patent and SPC were successfully revoked by Generics, Floyd J finding that it the alleged invention was obvious over the prior art as at 1987.