lawsuit

Previously, the case had been stayed pending the outcome of a similar suit between the USPTO and drug maker Wyeth. With that case now decided, Alnylam and the USPTO have asked the court to lift the stay and allow the patent office to review the IP's term in light of the Wyeth case

Because of the US Patent and Trademark Office's current review of four Illumina patents, Life Tech has requested to suspend all proceedings in ongoing litigation involving the IP.

In his defense, Mirrx's founder charged that Santaris is aiming to gain control of the Blockmir technology as an alternative to the LNA technology used in its phase I HCV drug SPC3649, which he alleges falls under intellectual property controlled by Regulus Therapeutics.

It is opposition, CSHL charges that it was specifically the "malpractice and fraud" of the lawyer handling the intellectual property that led the US Patent and Trademark Office to reject the institution's patent applications related to certain RNAi technology.