Chiron Corp. v. Genentech, Inc.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

In this lawsuit, Chiron alleges that Gen-entech’s product, Herceptin, infringes Chi-ron’s United States Patent No. 6,054,561 (“ ’561 patent”). The court is now called upon to construe the terms of ’561 patent. See Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., 52 F.3d 967, 968 (Fed.Cir.1995) (en banc), aff'd, 517 U.S. 370 , 116 S.Ct. 1384 , 134 L.Ed.2d 577 (1996).

I. Factual and Procedural Background

The ’561 patent issued on April 25, 2000 from a long line of patents and patent applications dating back to February 8, 1984 and January 11,1985. Generally, the patent claims monoclonal antibodies capable of binding to specific human breast cancer antigens.

Antibodies, also known as “immunoglo-bulins,” are produced by the immune system in response to the presence of an antigen, or foreign substance, in the body. Antibodies recognize and bind to specific receptor sites, or “epitopes,” on the antigen. Because antibodies are capable of homing in on specific antigens, they are useful for identifying and destroying harmful agents in the body, such as bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. For example, a toxin may be attached to an antibody so that it will kill the antigen to…