TRIPS Patent Term May Be Directly Applied by European National Courts

Thanks to the IPKat for discussing the European Court of Justice ruling in Case C‑431/05, Merck Genéricos – Produtos Farmacêuticos Ldª v Merck & Co. Inc. and Merck Sharp & Dohme Ldª, where a reference from the Supremo Tribunal de Justiça of Portugal asked whether national courts "must" apply TRIPS Article 33 ("The term of protection available shall not end before the expiration of a period of twenty years counted from the filing date").

The ECJ ruling states that

"As Community legislation in the sphere of patents now stands, it is not
contrary to Community law for Article 33 of the Agreement on Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ... to be directly applied by a national
court subject to the conditions provided for by national law."