The European patent for Strangvac, a vaccine against equine strangles, is approved and in force until May 2031. Pending the approval of the supplementary protection certificates, the protection in Great Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany and Austria will be extended until May 2036. Supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) are an intellectual property right that serves as an extension of the monopoly conferred by a patent, however limited to the specific pharmaceutical and plant protection product authorised by regulatory authorities and protected by the patent.

The EU wishes to provide sufficient protection for these products in the interest of public health and to encourage innovation in these areas to generate smart growth and jobs. Supplementary protection certificates aim to offset the loss of patent protection for pharmaceutical and plant protection products that occurs due to the compulsory lengthy testing and clinical trials these products require prior to obtaining regulatory marketing approval. An SPC can extend a patent right for a maximum of five years.