Court rules for MedImmune in patent case |
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Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:17
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WASHINGTON (AFX) - The Supreme Court Tuesday ruled that pharmaceutical developer MedImmune Inc. can pursue a patent case against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Centocor Inc. in a lower federal court, even though MedImmune is continuing to pay royalties on a patent held by Centocor.The court's ruling was expected, as the case presents the same issues as a dispute between MedImmune and Genetech Inc. that the Supreme Court resolved in MedImmune's favor Jan. 9. At issue in both cases is whether a company licensing a patent from another company must take the risk of violating the license contract in order to challenge the validity of the patent.Companies such as MedImmune are generally reluctant to break a patent license, even if they consider the patent invalid, because they can be subject to injunctions barring the sale of the licensed product. In MedImmune's case, it licensed patents from Genentech and Centocor for its top-selling child respiratory drug Synagis, which has accounted for 80 percent of its sales in recent years.Nevertheless, a federal appeals court has previously held that a company licensing a patent had to risk infringing the patent in order to challenge it in court.The court's rulings in the two cases means that MedImmune can continue to sell Synagis while challenging Genentech's and Centocor's patents.The case is MedImmune Inc. v. Centocor Inc., 05-656.MedImmune's shares dropped 22 cents to $35.15 in early trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, while Johnson & Johnson shares fell 15 cents to $66.49 on the New York Stock Exchange and Genentech shares rose 67 cents to $87.50 on the NYSE.Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Court rules in favor of MedImmune 