MedImmune Inc. (MEDI) has asked the Supreme Court to allow them to sue to overturn a patent owned by Genentech Inc. (DNA) on a component of MedImmune's blockbuster drug Synagis, even though MedImmune is paying royalties to use it.
The WashingtonPost.com reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit blocked MedImmune from suing in 2004, ruling that a 1998 deal that MedImmune and Genentech engaged in amounted to recognition of its patent's validity thereby leaving no conflict for the courts to resolve.
MedImmune says they made that agreement under protest and that they always maintained that they questioned the patent. The agreement was made, they contend, to avoid loss of business and a threat of a triple-damages infringement suit by Genentech.
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