The patent in question, number 6,455,275 issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office (Arlington, VA, USA) in 2002, is the fourth in a string of so-called Axel patents, named for one of the inventors. The first three patents, which all expired in 2000, describe a method to splice genes into cells. This technology, originally patented in 1983, has been licensed to at least 30 biotech companies as a critical step in developing and manufacturing recombinant protein therapeutics. Over the life of the original patents, Columbia has received an estimated $300 million in licensing fees and royalties.
The companies contend that Columbia's most recent Axel patent describes the same invention covered under the previous patents. They have also accused the university of practicing delay tactics in applying for the patent in order to lengthen the time royalties could be received. Columbia responded to the accusations with a statement saying that the “patent is valid and was obtained in the usual and customary manner”, declining further comment when contacted by Nature Biotechnology. The biotech companies that initiated the lawsuits, including both Amgen (Thousand Oaks, CA, USA) and Genentech (S. San Francisco, CA, USA), which both filed similar suits earlier this year, declined to comment beyond restating the claims made in the legal complaints.
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