Court Upholds Genentech Decision

A federal appeals court upheld Genentech Inc.’s legal victory in a $1-billion patent battle with Bay Area biotechnology rival Chiron Corp., Genentech said Tuesday.

In 2002, a federal jury unanimously decided Emeryville, Calif.-based Chiron had no claim to share any profit from Genentech’s blockbuster breast cancer drug Herceptin. Chiron appealed the ruling.

Chiron had sued South San Francisco-based Genentech for patent infringement, alleging it had invented a key technology used in creating Herceptin.

But the federal Circuit Court in Washington, D.C., which hears appeals of patent disputes, sided with Genentech in its March 30 decision.

Genentech made the announcement after the stock market closed Tuesday.

Genentech’s shares closed down 83 cents at $110.15 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Chiron closed down 40 cents at $45.96 on Nasdaq.