BioNTech wins latest round in Covid-19 patent clash
CureVac suffers a blow following a favourable earlier opinion delivered by the German Federal Patent Court | Decision invalidates a patent related to mRNA tech.
CureVac faced a setback as a German court sided with BioNTech in their ongoing dispute over Covid-19 vaccine patents.
The German Federal Patent Court granted BioNTech’s nullity action against the German segment of one of CureVac patents on Tuesday, December 19.
Granting BioNTech’s nullity action has led to patent EP 1,857,122 B1 being ruled invalid.
The patent concerned a process that improves the expression of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) in cells.
In response to the decision, CureVac, a global biopharmaceutical company specialising in the development of medicines based on mRNA, announced its intention to appeal before the German Federal Court of Justice.
Alexander Zehnder, chief executive officer of CureVac, expressed disappointment with the patent court's decision, particularly in light of the favourable preliminary opinion delivered by the same court earlier this year.
Zehnder emphasised that this decision is just “one among many” that will shape the landscape concerning the use of CureVac's IP in the development of Comirnaty—CureVac’s coronavirus shot.
This ruling marks the first decision in the ongoing patent litigation battle between CureVac and BioNTech over the vaccine patent in Germany.
Case background
Following the court’s favourable opinion in April, BioNTech challenged the patent with a nullity suit claiming that the patent lacked novelty and is not inventive.
The court's initial decision is now reversed.
The litigation concerns a total of eight IP rights owned by CureVac, and proceedings will continue for the remaining seven rights.
The court will assess the validity, infringement, and potential damages of each right individually.
Zehnder expressed “confidence” in the company’s role in mRNA tech and “continuous innovation” in the field has led to essential contribution in the development of Covid-19 vaccines.
He reiterated his belief that CureVac's contribution to “laying scientific groundwork” deserves acknowledgment.
“We will continue to defend our claim for recognition and fair compensation and will take appropriate action by appealing this decision," he added.
CureVac is represented in Germany by Oliver Jan Jüngst from Bird & Bird and Andreas Graf von Stosch from Graf von Stosch Patentanwaltsgesellschaft.
In the US, the company is represented by Mark Izraelewicz from Marshall, Gerstein & Borun.
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