Forum Selection Clauses No Longer ‘Boilerplate’ for IP Fights

Contract clauses steering patent disputes to a particular federal court will get more attention after the Federal Circuit ruled such a clause prevents a Massachusetts drug maker from maintaining administrative patent challenges.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Feb. 8 ruled Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd. was entitled to a preliminary injunction that will force Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. to withdraw petitions seeking patent reviews at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

The appeals court said a 2020 agreement between the two companies required Sarepta to dispute the validity of Nippon Shinyaku’s patents in Delaware federal court.

The precedential ...