Ares Trading S.A. v. Dyax Corp.

CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedMarch 10, 2023
Docket1:19-cv-02300
StatusUnknown

This text of Ares Trading S.A. v. Dyax Corp. (Ares Trading S.A. v. Dyax Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ares Trading S.A. v. Dyax Corp., (D. Del. 2023).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE ARES TRADING S.A., Plaintiff, v. C.A. No. 19-02300-EJW DYAX CORP., PUBLIC VERSION Defendant. DYAX CORP., Counterclaim Plaintiff, v. ARES TRADING S.A., MERCK PATENT GMBH, Counterclaim Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION and ORDER John G. Day, Andrew Colin Mayo, ASHBY & GEDDES, Wilmington, DE; Isaiah L. Freeman, John Hanish, John Hintz, Kevin J. Culligan, MAYNARD, COOPER & GALE, P.C., New York, NY. Counsel for Plaintiff, Counterclaim Defendants. Kelly E. Farnan, RICHARDS, LAYTON & FINGER, PA, Wilmington, DE; Chelsea A. Loughran, Michael N. Rader, Stuart V.C. Duncan Smith, Suresh Rav, Susmita A. Gadre, Valerie A. Caras, WOLF, GREENFIELD & SACKS, P.C., Boston, MA. Counsel for Defendant, Counterclaim Plaintiff. February 21, 2022 Wilmington, Delaware WALLACH, U.S. Circuit Judge, sitting by designation: This matter is before the Court on a bench trial held from July 11, 2022, through July 14, 2022. Having considered the parties’ pleadings, trial testimony, exhibits, post-trial briefing, proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, and the applicable state and federal law governing the relevant issues, the Court makes the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. Based on its Findings of Fact and

Conclusions of Law, the Court denies Plaintiff and Counterclaim Defendant Ares Trading S.A.’s Complaint in its entirety (Counts I–IV) and enters judgment in favor of Defendant and Counterclaim Plaintiff Dyax Corp. as to Counterclaim I, but denies Counterclaim II on the merits, and Counterclaims III–VI as moot. The parties’ primary dispute concerns the enforceability of a royalty provision in the Amended and Restated Collaboration and Licensing Agreement (“CLA”), which Ares Trading S.A. (“Ares” or “Ares Trading”) and Dyax Corp. (“Dyax”) entered into in 2006. JURISDICTION This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this action under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1332(a)(2), 1338(a), and 2201(a), because the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $75,000, exclusive

of interest and costs, the action is between a citizen of a State and a citizen or subject of a foreign state and Plaintiff and Counterclaim Defendant Ares Trading and Defendant and Counterclaim Plaintiff Dyax both seek a declaration of the rights and obligations of the parties. The Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendant and Counterclaim Plaintiff Dyax, because Dyax is a citizen of the State in which this Court is located. The Court has personal jurisdiction over Plaintiff and Counterclaim Defendant Ares Trading and Counterclaim Defendant Merck Patent GmbH because Ares Trading and Merck Patent GmbH have consented to the Court’s personal jurisdiction for purposes of this action. Venue is proper because Ares filed claims against Dyax in this Court arising from its contractual relationship and dispute with Dyax, and Dyax’s counterclaims against Ares Trading and Merck Patent GmbH arise from the same contractual relationship and dispute. CLAIMS AND COUNTERCLAIMS Ares Trading’s Complaint contains four counts against Dyax: I. Ares Trading seeks declaratory judgment that Brulotte renders the royalty obligations of

Ares to Dyax for net sales of therapeutic antibody products, including Bavencio, for ten years after the first commercial sale of each such product, even though the last Cambridge Antibody Technology (“CAT”) Valid Claim expired in the United States before the end of the ten-year period, as unenforceable. DENIED on the merits. II. Ares Trading seeks reformation of the CLA under Section 10.6 of the CLA, in that Brulotte renders the royalty provisions of the CLA unenforceable. DENIED as moot. III. Ares Trading seeks declaratory judgment that Ares Trading is entitled to a royalty reduction from Dyax based on the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, in that the royalties are unenforceable under Brulotte. DENIED on the merits. IV. Ares Trading seeks declaratory judgment that Ares Trading does not have to pay

royalties to Dyax because Ares Trading’s sublicense of PD-L1 should be terminated, since Brulotte renders Dyax’s PD-L1 license unenforceable. DENIED as moot. Dyax’s Answer, Defenses, and Counterclaims contains six counterclaims against Ares and Merck Patent GmbH: I. Dyax claims Brulotte does not apply to Ares Trading’s obligations to pay royalties for net sales of Bavencio or other therapeutic antibody products to Dyax under the CLA. GRANTED. II. Dyax claims Merck Patent GmbH omitted Dyax inventors from U.S. Patent No. 9,624,298 and requests a correction of inventorship for this patent. DENIED on the merits. III. If Brulotte applies, Dyax claims Ares Trading must agree to amend the CLA to restore the full royalty rate. DENIED as moot. IV. If Brulotte applies, Dyax claims Ares Trading must agree to reform the CLA to restore the full royalty rate. DENIED as moot. V. If Brulotte applies and the CLA must be modified to reduce the royalty rate, Dyax

claims breach of contract by Ares Trading for failing to perform Section 10.10 of the CLA. DENIED as moot. VI. If Brulotte applies and the CLA must be reformed with a stepped-down royalty rate, Dyax alleges breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing by Ares Trading for its refusal to pay the full royalty rate as negotiated in the original CLA. DENIED as moot. FINDINGS OF FACT I. The Parties 1. Defendant and Counterclaim Plaintiff, Dyax Corp. (“Dyax”), is a biotechnology research and development company that was founded in 1995. DTX-486 at 3; Day 3 PM Tr. (Magovcevic- Liebisch) at 14:16–23.

2. Shire plc (“Shire”) is a formerly independent biotechnology company that acquired Dyax in 2016. Day 4 Tr. (Gates) at 45:21–23; DTX-554. 3. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (“Takeda”) is Dyax’s current corporate parent after acquiring Shire in 2019. Day 4 Tr. (Gates) at 46:2–5; DTX-560. 4. Plaintiff and Counterclaim Defendant, Ares Trading S.A. (“Ares” or “Ares Trading”), is a subsidiary holding company of Serono S.A.. Day 1 Tr. (Eckhardt) at 9:15–25. 5. Serono S.A. or EMD Serono (“Serono”) is a formerly independent biotechnology company that is an indirect corporate parent of Ares Trading. Day 1 Tr. (Eckhardt) at 9:6–10:8. 6. Counterclaim Defendant, Merck Patent GmbH (“Merck Patent”), is an intellectual property holding company and indirect subsidiary of Merck KGaA. Day 2 Tr. (Seemann) at 267:11–23. 7. Merck KGaA (“Merck”) is the current indirect corporate parent of Ares Trading, Merck Patent, and Serono. Day 1 Tr. (Eckhardt) at 7:23–10:8. It acquired Serono (and thus Ares Trading) in 2006. Id. at 9:6–10; DTX-638. II. Dyax’s Antibody Phage Display Technology

8. Dyax pioneered and sought to perfect phage display to discover peptides and antibodies that could be developed into therapeutics. DTX-486 at 3; Day 3 PM Tr. (Magovcevic-Liebisch) at 14:10–23:22. 9. Dyax’s expertise in phage display led to important results. Dyax used its early phage display library to develop a drug called Kalbitor for treating hereditary angioedema (“HAE”). JTX-269 at 5; Day 3 PM Tr. (Magovcevic-Liebisch) at 17:14–24. 10. In 2018, Dyax used its more advanced antibody library—described in a seminal 2005 paper—to develop Takhzyro, also for treating HAE. Day 3 PM Tr. (Sexton) at 145:23–146:3, 149:24– 150:10, 154:18–25; JTX-63; Day 3 PM Tr. (Magovcevic-Liebisch) at 21:5–22:21. 11. Dyax continues to perform antibody phage display today. Day 3 PM Tr. (Sexton) at

147:18–148:13. A. Dyax Capitalized on Its Foundational Ladner Patents. 12.

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