Jiri Slavík is a Prague-based Czech and European Patent Attorney with more than 10 years of in-house pharma IP experience. He leads the IP legal team at Adalvo, a B2B pharmaceutical company that develops generic medicines and licenses them to pharma companies worldwide. He is also a registered UPC representative (European Patent Litigator), a European Design Attorney before the EUIPO, and the co-founder of IP duo, a two-attorney practice he runs on the side for the cases he finds most interesting. He started out as a chemist - and as a friend once told him, "It's easier for a chemist to learn law than for a lawyer to learn chemistry."In this episode, Jiri joins David Breitenbach, CCO at PatentRenewal.com, to explain how a generic medicine gets to market when someone else holds the patents - from IP landscaping a decade before launch to the Unified Patent Court, which may soon decide how early generics can enter the European market.They discuss why IP is the one function in generic drug development that is there from the first idea to launch day, why the UPC's opt-out regime turns patent strategy into a chess game, and the UPC Court of Appeal case on public access to court documents that Jiri worked on outside his day job.In this episode, you'll learn:◼️ How a chemist with no IP background ended up as a European Patent Attorney◼️ The two layers that protect a new medicine: regulatory data exclusivity and patents (compound, formulation, use, and process)◼️ Why SPCs exist, and why the consensus is roughly 15 years of exclusivity once a product launches◼️ What a generic medicine actually is - and why "copy" undersells value-added products like one pill a day instead of three◼️ Why generic companies are planning today for launches in 2030-2035, and why being on the market on day one matters so much◼️ How IP landscaping finds the patents you need to design around, and the ones with vulnerabilities◼️ Why a company based outside the UPC countries can still be sued at the UPC◼️ How the opt-out regime leaves generic companies watching from the sidelines◼️ What one court for Europe, unitary SPCs, and the EU pharma reform could mean for generic market entry◼️ Why a patent does not give you the right to enter the market - and how to estimate what a patent is worth00:00 Intro: from chemist to patent attorney03:05 Czech exams, the EQE, and IP duo: when do you sleep?05:53 How a new medicine is protected: data exclusivity, patents, and SPCs08:37 Planning today for a 2035 launch, and the race to be first10:38 What a generic medicine is, and how IP shapes it from day one14:04 Litigation and an IP landscape that never stands still17:05 The UPC explained - and why you can be sued without being a member19:46 Opt-outs, a patent chess game, and a landmark UPC case22:43 One court for Europe: what changes in the next 5-10 years26:14 Rapid fire IP confessions, and how to value a patentFollow Jiří:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jirislavik/https://ipduo.eu/Join PatentRenewal.com's circle on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/patentrenewalcom/Follow David:https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-breitenbach/LISTEN TO THE SHOWSpotify:Apple Podcast:GET IN TOUCHOur website: https://patentrenewal.com/About usAt PatentRenewal.com, we believe IP renewals should be simple, transparent, and stress-free. We care about innovation and about making IP easier to understand and easier to use. That's why we created Talk IP to me, the podcast that brings fresh conversations to the world of intellectual property. In each episode, innovators, IP experts, founders, and legal minds share real stories, hard-won lessons, and practical insights you can actually apply in your work.Our goal is simple: make IP feel human, practical, and accessible.
