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October 01, 2020

Federal Appeals Court Sides with Pfizer, Merck KGaA in $5 Billion Patent Suit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled on September 28  that a New Jersey federal judge should not have overridden a jury verdict which invalidated Biogen MA, Inc.’s patent claims covering its multiple sclerosis drug Avonex. After a five-week jury trial in 2018, a New Jersey federal jury found that Biogen’s patent was invalid based on an anticipation theory and that Merck KGaA unit EMD Serono Inc. had no liability. EMD Serono and Pfizer Inc., had been accused of infringing Biogen’s patent with their multiple sclerosis drug, Rebif.