Sarepta’s Patent Challenges Violate Contract, Court Says (1)

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. will have to withdraw administrative challenges it brought against Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd. patents, after the Federal Circuit ruled the challenges violated the companies’ agreement.

A contract between Sarepta and Nippon Shinyaku clearly required that, for a certain period of time, Sarepta could only dispute the validity of Nippon Shinyaku’s patents in Delaware federal court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said.

Sarepta’s decision to challenge Nippon Shinyaku’s patents at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board during that time “contravened the plain language of the forum selection clause” in the agreement, the appeals court ...