BioNTech seeks to have CureVac patent nullified in German court

CureVac NV

11/01/2023 17:16

BERLIN, Jan 11 (Reuters) - BioNTech  22UAy.DE  has filed
a motion to have a German patent held by competitor CureVac
 5CV.DE  declared invalid in response to a patent lawsuit filed
by CureVac last year, a statement from the German Patent Court
said on Wednesday.
    The case concerns a European patent granted to CureVac in
2010 for mRNA technology used in vaccines, the court said. 
    BioNTech argues that the patent should not have been granted
because the subject matter underlying the patent is not new, or
at least not based on an inventive step, the court said, adding
that CureVac rejects that argument.
    BioNTech confirmed it had filed the motion but declined to
comment further. Curevac did not respond immediately to a
request for comment.
    The court also said that it can only declare a European
patent invalid with effect for Germany and that no date has yet
been set to consider the matter.
    CureVac filed its patent lawsuit in Germany last July over
BioNTech's use of mRNA technology, saying it was seeking "fair
compensation" from BioNTech and two subsidiaries for
infringement of its intellectual property rights.
    BioNTech responded at the time that its work was original.
    "We will vigorously defend it against all allegations of
patent infringement," the German company had said in a
statement.
 (Reporting by Miranda Murray
Editing by Rachel More and David Goodman
)