U.S. Court Grants Favorable Orders to MorphoSys in CAT Patent Disputes
MARTINSRIED, Germany, and MUNICH, Germany, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MorphoSys AG (Neuer Markt: MOR), the German biotechnology company announced today that on January 24, 2002, the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., denied Cambridge Antibody Technology's (CAT) motion to dismiss or transfer a suit filed by MorphoSys seeking declaratory judgement for non-infringement and invalidity of the U.S. ``Winter II'' patent (No. 6,248,516). As a result the Winter II patent case in the U.S. will now proceed as a MorphoSys action for declaratory judgement in the Washington, D.C. District Court. The decision relating to the Winter II law suit, involves a separate proceeding from that relating to the favorable ruling MorphoSys received on December 21, 2001, from the same court concerning the U.S. ``Griffiths'' patent (No. 5,885,793). In the Griffiths case, the Court stated its intent to enter partial summary judgement against CAT in favor of MorphoSys on CAT's claim of infringement, unless a ``genuine issue as to any material fact remains for trial''.
The U.S. Winter II patent was granted on June 19, 2001, with CAT as the exclusive licensor. On the same day the patent was issued, CAT sued MorphoSys for patent infringement in the U.S. District of Southern California in San Diego. In parallel, MorphoSys filed for declaratory judgement on the issues of patent invalidity and non-infringement in the U.S. District Court of Washington, D.C. In July 2001 the U.S. District Court of Southern California dismissed the CAT suit for improper venue. In August 2001 the California court again granted MorphoSys' request for a motion to dismiss the infringement case.
The favorable order on December 21, 2001, in the Griffiths case, followed a favorable preliminary ruling in August 2001, where the Washington D.C. District Court stated that ``MorphoSys should prevail on the issue of infringement'', pending further briefings or proceedings. Prior to this ruling, a jury trial in March 2001 was concluded, at which the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the validity of the patent, or whether MorphoSys infringed it... |
