Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 31 JANUARY 2007

Medimmune Challenge To Genentech Patent Permitted To Continue

Justice Scalia, reversing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court, holding that under the Declaratory Judgment (DJ) Act (the Act), a licensee in good standing need only plead a license dispute in order to challenge the underlying patent.

United StatesIntellectual Property

Justice Scalia, reversing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court, holding that under the Declaratory Judgment (DJ) Act (the Act), a licensee in good standing need only plead a license dispute in order to challenge the underlying patent. MedImmune, Inc., v. Genentech, Inc., et al; Case No. 05-608; (U.S. Sup Ct., Jan. 9, 2007) (Scalia, Justice; Thomas, Justice, dissenting).

In 1997, Genentech granted a patent license to MedImmune for a patent covering the production of chimeric antibodies and a then-pending patent application (now the Cabilly II patent) covering the coexpression of immunoglobulin chains in recombinant host cells. Soon after MedImmune began to manufacture Synagis, a drug used for infants and young children to protect against respiratory tract diseases, the Cabilly II patent issued. Genentech informed MedImmune of its belief that Synagis was covered by the patent and expected royalty payments to commence. MedImmune

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

See more popular content from