D. DEL.Court order
Delaware federal court denies Pfizer and Moderna bids to dismiss Bayer COVID-19 vaccine mRNA patent lawsuits
U.S. Circuit Judge William Bryson, sitting by designation in Delaware federal court, denied motions to dismiss filed by Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna in patent infringement litigation brought by Bayer over messenger RNA technology. The court held that Bayer's asserted claims are not directed to patent-ineligible natural laws under Section 101 and that Bayer plausibly pled infringement under Section 271.
Opinion (U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware) → · Reuters, Law360, GuruFocus
Key points
- The asserted patent, U.S. Patent No. 7,741,118, issued in 2010 and expires on June 22, 2027.U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
- Judge Bryson held that substituting alternative codons to reduce mRNA instability produces patent-eligible synthetic genes rather than natural phenomena.U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
- The court held a Section 271(g) complaint need not plead Section 287(b) pre-suit notice, which is a defense to damages, not a pleading requirement.U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
- Bayer filed a companion infringement action asserting the same patent against Johnson & Johnson in New Jersey federal court.Reuters
Sources4 articles across 4 outlets
GuruFocus
Law360
Reuters
U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware