U.S. Federal Court: US Govt Not Liable in Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine Patent Case

The U.S. Delware Federal Judge refused to accept the contention submitted by Moderna Inc., seeking to shift liability from

By: :  Daniel
Update: 2023-04-27 20:30 GMT

U.S. Federal Court: US Govt Not Liable in Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine Patent Case The U.S. Delware Federal Judge refused to accept the contention submitted by Moderna Inc., seeking to shift liability from the company to the U.S. government for alleged patent infringement by Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine. Earlier this year, Chief Judge Colm Connolly gave a ruling in favor of Alnylam...


U.S. Federal Court: US Govt Not Liable in Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine Patent Case

The U.S. Delware Federal Judge refused to accept the contention submitted by Moderna Inc., seeking to shift liability from the company to the U.S. government for alleged patent infringement by Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine.

Earlier this year, Chief Judge Colm Connolly gave a ruling in favor of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., just over a month after another Delaware judge turned down the same motion in another patent case against Moderna Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Connolly did not include the reasoning for his decision in his order, which he announced from the bench following arguments in the case.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Alnylam sued both Moderna and Pfizer Inc in Delaware last year, seeking royalties for the lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology their vaccines use to deliver genetic material known as mRNA.

The cases were part of a wave of patent lawsuits that have been filed over technology used in the COVID-19 shots, including one filed by Moderna against Pfizer last year.

Moderna contended that in the Alnylam case that the court should dismiss claims that were based on vaccines it sold to the U.S. government and that Alnylam should instead seek damages from the government itself. It cited a law that was previously used to keep patent disputes from interfering with the supply of war materials during World War One.

Moderna made the same argument in a motion to dismiss part of another patent lawsuit brought by Arbutus Biopharma Corp and Genevant Sciences GmbH.

U.S. District Judge Mitchell Goldberg refuted Moderna's motion in that case last year and said it had not yet proven the government was more than an ‘incidental beneficiary’ of the shots.

Goldberg denied the motion for a second time last month after the federal government backed Moderna's position.

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By: - Daniel

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