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Friday, July 11, 2008

RNAi IP: Glover Goes Down

"Man I'm gettin' too old for this sh!t."

Alnylam's "Glover" patent has been overturned in Europe. Alnylam has their say here, Silence Therapeutics' slant is here.

We've often noted that with no RNAi therapies on the market and companies effectively operating under the research exemption granted via the 2005 Merck v Integra Supreme Court decision that it's difficult to weigh in on RNAi IP (we do however acknowledge that a good proxy for determining the eventual IP winner is watching where deal dollars wind up, and by that measure Alnylam is lightyears ahead).

So do we know what the European Patent Office decision means in the long run? No. Does it give us an opportunity to entertain you on a sunny summer Friday with Lethal Weapon references? Yes.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why even comment on a subject that you so openly admit you do not even remotely understand?

Chris Morrison said...

Thanks anonymous. First, if you read the post, you'd see that I explained part of the reason why is to make a Lethal Weapon joke. More seriously, we also posted to draw attention to the ongoing RNAi IP fight--one that has not really even begun and as we point out will probably not come to a head until products hit the market. Finally we do not suggest that RNAi is an area we 'do not even remotely understand', but you can hold that opinion if you wish.

Anonymous said...

Have you considered what the consequences might be for the RNAi IP landscape when the Benitec '099 patent is upheld with regards this Glover decision?