IP Whiteboard

High Court refuses application for special leave to appeal Full Court finding that extended release venlafaxine patent invalid

14 May 2012

On Friday, Justices Gummow, Hayne and Keiffel refused an application for Special Leave to appeal to the High Court a decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court which found that Wyeth’s patent relating to a method of treatment using an extended release formulation of the anti-depressant venlafaxine was invalid for lack of fair basis on the specification as filed, and on the ground that that the claims were not fairly based on an earlier US priority document.

King & Wood Mallesons acted for Alphapharm in opposing the application for special leave.

Branched meanings: Lexicography of ‘branched alkyl’ decides Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine patent dispute

1 July 2025

By Suzy Madar, Emily King

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) recently decided that Moderna’s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, SPIKEVAX®, did not infringe Alnylam’s patents because the cationic lipid used in the vaccine, SM-102, was not a cationic lipid with a ‘branched alkyl’ group.[1] The case turned on the proper construction of ‘branched alkyl’.

Read on