Ad-hoc | 11 March 2002 07:30

MorphoSys AG english

MorphoSys Wins Final Ruling in Patent Dispute with CAT Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– MorphoSys AG (Neuer Markt: MOR), the German biotechnology company, announced today that on March 8, 2002 the District Court in Washington, DC issued a final ruling (Civil Action No. 99-1012) in its favor in the dispute with Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) concerning the Griffiths patent (U.S. Patent 5,885,793). According to the court ruling, MorphoSys application of its proprietary HuCAL antibody libraries does not infringe the claims of the Griffiths patent, thereby giving MorphoSys full freedom to operate with regard to the patent. In announcing the ruling, the Court focused on the question of whether the MorphoSys HuCAL antibody libraries are “derived from humans”. The Court stated “no reasonable jury could find that the HuCAL library, whose starting point is theoretical analysis of data, is “derived from a human”. The Court continued: “Or, to put it another way, the HuCAL library is not what the ‘793 patent claims.” The ruling upholds an earlier preliminary ruling and an order expressed by the Court in August and December 2001, respectively. The ruling concludes a Declaratory Judgment Action suit initiated by MorphoSys in April 1999, in order to protect both its U.S. customers and business. By initiating the action, MorphoSys requested a U.S. court confirm its view that (i) the patent is invalid, and (ii) MorphoSys does not infringe it. In March 2001, the factual issues were tried before a jury at the District Court in Washington D.C. However, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on either validity or infringement issues. Subsequently, both parties requested that the judge presiding over the case rule on several matters of law pertaining to the case. A preliminary ruling issued by the Court on August 17, 2001 stated that “MorphoSys should prevail on the issue of infringement”, pending further briefings or proceedings. An additional order in favor of MorphoSys occurred on December 21, 2001, when the Court stated its intent to enter partial summary judgement against CAT on their claim of infringement, unless a material fact was presented prior to January 15, 2002. Last week’s ruling represents confirmation of this order in MorphoSys’ favor. Both parties may appeal the decision at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 11.03.2002 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 663200; ISIN: DE0006632003; Index: Nemax 50 Listed: Neuer Markt in Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 110730 Mär 02