Genentech Receives Notification of Rejection of Cabilly Patent Claims From Reexamination...

Genentech Receives Notification of Rejection of Cabilly Patent Claims From Reexamination Process

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
Genentech, Inc. (NYSE:DNA) announced that it has received
notification today from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that a
final Office action has been issued and mailed rejecting the
patentability of claims of the Cabilly patent, et al. U.S. Patent No.
6,331,415 ('415 patent).

The company has not received the Office action but anticipates
that it will file a response to this final Office action upon review
of the document. Should the rejection be maintained, the company will
appeal the decision to the Board of Appeals within the Patent Office.

The '415 patent remains valid and enforceable through the appeals
process. The company estimates that the entire appeals process may
take approximately one to two years, or longer.

It is expected that the Patent Office will make a copy of the
final Office action available to the public on its website. The
decision covers two separate reexaminations of the '415 patent that
the Patent Office initiated based on requests received from third
parties, and that were later merged into one proceeding.

The '415 patent relates to certain methods used to make antibodies
and antibody fragments by recombinant DNA technology, as well as
recombinant cells and DNA that are used in those methods. Genentech
utilizes this technology for many of its own products and has
confidential licensing agreements with a number of companies on the
'415 patent. Genentech and the City of Hope receive revenue under such
license agreements including royalties on sales of products that are
covered by one or more claims of the patent.

About Genentech

Founded more than 30 years ago, Genentech is a leading
biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and
commercializes biotherapeutics for significant unmet medical needs. A
considerable number of the currently approved biotechnology products
originated from or are based on Genentech science. Genentech
manufactures and commercializes multiple biotechnology products and
licenses several additional products to other companies. The company
has headquarters in South San Francisco, California and is listed on
the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DNA. For additional
information about the company, please visit www.gene.com.

Genentech, Inc.
Caroline Pecquet, 650-467-7078 (Media Contact)
Kathee Littrell, 650-225-1034 (Investor Contact)

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