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

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’.
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Iconic? Making a song and dance about AI transparency

Iconic? Making a song and dance about AI transparency

20 May 2025
By Michael Swinson, Emily King, Luke Hawthorne
In an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, more than 400 of the UK’s most celebrated artists and creative leaders, including Elton John, Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Paul McCartney, and Shakespeare’s Globe, urged the UK Parliament to protect copyright, ‘the lifeblood of the creative industries.’  The icons expressed their support for an amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill that could have reshaped the relationship between the creative industries and AI developers by requiring AI companies to disclose which copyrighted works have been used to train their models.
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