Genentech Receives Notice of Cabilly Patent Rejection
Genentech has been notified that their Cabilly patent claim has been rejected by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Genentech, Inc. (South San Francisco, CA), has received notification from the US Patent and Trademark Office that a final Office action has been issued rejecting the patentability of claims of the Cabilly patent, et al., US Patent No. 6,331,415 (‘415 patent).
The company has announced its plans to file a response to the Patent Office’s action after review of the document. If the rejection is maintained, the company will appeal the decision to the Board of Appeals in the Patent Office.
The patent relates to methods used to make antibodies and antibody fragments by recombinant DNA technology as well as recombinant cells and DNA that are used in those methods. Genentech uses this technology for many of its own products and has confidential licensing agreements with a number of companies on the ‘415 patent. Genentech and former research partner, City of Hope (Duarte, CA), receive revenue under such license agreements.
The Patent Office decision covers two separate reexaminations of the ‘415 patent that were initiated based on requests received from third parties, and that were later merged into one proceeding.
The ‘415 patent remains valid and enforceable through the appeals process, which Genentech estimates may take one to two years, or longer.
