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A Boston-based drug developer, which lost its case against Pfizer over the COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid, has filed a motion with the Federal Circuit, arguing that a contentious issue related to a typo in a patent document should have been decided by a jury. The company, which has been involved in a long-running legal dispute with Pfizer, claims that a minor error in a patent document should have been considered by a jury, rather than a judge, to determine the validity of the patent. The error in question is a typo in the patent that describes the compound’s inventive method of suppressing SARS-CoV-2 viral replication.
The issue at the center of the controversy is whether the patent document, which contains the typo, accurately describes the compound’s method of action. The drug developer, which has been arguing that Pfizer’s Paxlovid infringes on its patent, believes that the error in the patent document raises significant questions about the validity of the patent. It has asked the Federal Circuit to vacate a decision that was made by a judge, and instead, have the issue resolved by a jury.
If successful, the drug developer’s motion could have significant implications for the patent system, as it would require courts to take a more critical look at patent documents and the potential errors that might be present in them. The case is part of a growing trend of disputes over the validity of patents and the role of judges versus juries in resolving such issues.
The motion is the latest development in a long-running legal dispute between the two companies, which has been ongoing for several years. The dispute has seen multiple trials and appeals, and is expected to continue to be closely watched by the pharmaceutical industry and patent law experts.