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Surely You Joust

Chiron's and Roche's press releases announcing a decision by the European Patent Office's Technical Board of Appeals regarding HCV patents made it sound like the companies were attending different hearings and discussing different subject matter. They epitomize the brinksmanship the two are playing over the nucleic acid testing (NAT) market.

Chiron Corp. and Roche should conclude their ongoing dispute over Chiron's HCV patents if for no other reason than to avoid press release tilts like this July's. In announcing a decision by the European Patent Office Technical Board of Appeals on Chiron's European HCV Patent No. 0 318 216 (the '216 patent), Roche said that "claims pertaining to polypeptides, immunoassays, polynucleotides, probes and antigens had to be withdrawn by Chiron," and that the decision "effectively allows Roche and others to market HCV immunoassays." Chiron spun it differently, noting that "the final '216 patent contains broad claims that cover nucleic acid testing (NAT)." It doesn't sound like the parties were interested in the same subject matter at the hearing.

Make no mistake about it: the battlefield here is the right to perform NAT testing (see "Chiron's Blood Screening Gambit:...

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