Lawyer Article
Supreme Court's MedImmune Patent Decision Impacts Both Licensing and Litigation
January 9, 2007
Abstract
Introduction
On January 9, 2007, the Supreme Court issued its decision in MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc., allowing patent licensees to bring an action against their licensors for a declaratory judgment of patent invalidity and/or unenforceability, without first requiring the licensees to repudiate the license. In so doing, the Supreme Court disapproved of the legal standard for declaratory judgment actions that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had endorsed for over twenty years. MedImmune is thus likely to significantly impact both patent licensing and litigation, and has already sparked considerable discussion in the legal community. This article attempts to help the reader understand MedImmune and navigate the new legal landscape wrought by that decision.
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