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news.The US District Court has ruled in favor of biopharmaceutical company Geron in dismissing two patent interference appeals related to the company's cloning technology.
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Geron acquired rights to this technology from the Roslin Institute in 1999 and subsequently initiated patent interferences with conflicting patents held by the University of Massachusetts. The US Patent Office ruled in favor of Geron on all counts in both interferences, and the university and its licensee, Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), filed appeals. Both of those appeals have now been dismissed with prejudice by the university and ACT.
In 2005, Geron and Exeter Life Sciences established a joint venture company, stART Licensing, to manage and license intellectual property rights for animal reproductive technologies. Geron has retained all rights to the technology for use in human cells. The dismissals of the patent interference appeals were part of an agreement reached between stART Licensing, the university and ACT.
Geron is developing and intends to commercialize first-in-class therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer and degenerative diseases, including spinal cord injury, heart failure, diabetes and HIV/AIDS. Geron’s products are based on telomerase biology and human embryonic stem cells.