CureVac Reports Progress in Intellectual Property Infringement Case Against BioNTech in Germany
- Regional Court Düsseldorf postpones infringement ruling on four intellectual property rights in lawsuit filed by CureVac against BioNTech
- Ruling on infringement to be provided latest once the validity of the intellectual property rights in suit has been determined by the relevant patent offices expected in 2024
- As German infringement courts only suspend the proceedings if an intellectual property right is infringed and its validity has been challenged, it may be concluded that the Regional Court Düsseldorf found all four intellectual property rights to be infringed
- Ruling on infringement of a fifth intellectual property right scheduled for December 28, 2023
CureVac N.V. (“CureVac”), a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (“mRNA”), today announced that the Regional Court Düsseldorf has decided to suspend proceedings on four intellectual property rights in the infringement lawsuit filed by CureVac against BioNTech. A ruling on infringement will be provided latest once the validity of the intellectual property rights has been determined by the relevant patent offices. The validity of these intellectual property rights has been challenged by BioNTech. Under German law, patent infringement and validity lawsuits are adjudicated in separate proceedings. Normally, German infringement courts only suspend the proceedings if the validity of the intellectual property has been challenged and is also considered infringed. Therefore, it may be concluded that the Regional Court Düsseldorf found all four intellectual property rights to be infringed.