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Morrison Foerster Prevails for Kind Pharmaceuticals at the Pleadings Stage in Complex Patent and Contract Litigation

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Morrison Foerster recently secured a complete victory at the pleadings stage for its clients Kind Pharmaceuticals LLC and...

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Morrison Foerster recently secured a complete victory at the pleadings stage for its clients Kind Pharmaceuticals LLC and Hangzhou Andao Pharmaceutical Ltd., Chief Executive Dr. Dong Liu, and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Shaojiang Deng (“Kind”) in the District Court for the Northern District of California. Kind is developing new drugs to treat anemia—called hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors (“HIF-PHIs”)—in patients with chronic kidney disease.Plaintiff FibroGen Inc. sought damages and equitable relief, alleging eight counts of breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and correction of inventorship, and seeking a declaration of patent ownership over Kind’s patent. FibroGen based these causes of actions on non-compete provisions in former employment contracts with Drs. Dong and Liu, and allegations that unpatented HIF-PHI compounds in FibroGen’s compound library overlapped with HIF-PHI compounds in Kind’s patent. Kind moved to dismiss and moved for Rule 11 sanctions based on FibroGen’s failure to investigate its claims, arguing that the claims were unsupported or based on contractual provisions that were void under California Business & Professions Code § 16600.On March 20, 2024, the Court dismissed seven of the eight counts in FibroGen’s complaint. The Court held that FibroGen had failed to plead sufficient facts to allege correction of inventorship and held the non-compete clause in the contracts underpinning the counts void under Section 16600. Kind answered the lone remaining count and brought counterclaims under California Business & Professions Code § 16600.5 seeking damages, attorney’s fees, and costs for FibroGen’s attempt to enforce the void non-compete clauses. Kind also renewed its sanctions motion, seeking attorney’s fees and costs incurred by Kind in defending the action to date.Shortly before FibroGen’s response to Kind’s renewed motion for sanctions was due, the parties agreed to withdraw all pending legal proceedings between them regarding HIF-PHIs, without payment by any party. As a result, Kind Pharmaceuticals remains free to develop its clinical candidate, AND017, and other HIF-PHIs in its pipeline.The MoFo team advising Kind was led by partners Daralyn Durie, Ragesh Tangri, and Fitz Collings, and associates Hannah Jiam, Timothy Trost, and Sydney Cooper.A press release announcing the settlement can be found <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kind-pharmaceuticals-announces-settlement-302118040.html" target="_blank">here</a>.

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Daralyn Durie is among the top trial lawyers in the country, acting as go-to trial counsel for both plaintiffs and defendants. Daralyn’s exceptional track record has earned her consistent recognition from leading national publications. Chambers has listed her among the top 10 intellectual property lawyers in the U.S. and Law360 has recognized her as an “Icon of IP” and an MVP. Benchmark Litigation reported that “going against her was like going against a boxer in which you know you’re going to get hurt.” She’s a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and an inductee into the California Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame.Daralyn’s legal career began at Berkeley Law, followed by a clerkship for the Honorable Douglas Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She became a partner at a litigation boutique in 1999 and, in 2009, co-founded Durie Tangri, a premier litigation boutique that later combined with Morrison Foerster in 2023.In addition to her courtroom successes, Daralyn is actively involved in the legal community. She is a board member of the National Women’s Law Center, a past president of the Northern California Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and served as an adjunct professor at Berkeley Law, where she taught civil trial advocacy.Life SciencesDaralyn has decades of experience in the life sciences sector. She spearheaded the enforcement of Genentech’s Cabilly family of patents, which generated billions of dollars in licensing revenue. She served as lead counsel in the Herceptin biosimilar litigation and recently achieved a plaintiff-side jury verdict of $178 million in a patent infringement case involving melanoma therapy.TechnologyIn the tech sector, Daralyn recently won defense jury verdicts for Aptiv (USB hubs), Activision (in the Eastern District of Texas), and Redbubble. She served as lead counsel for Google, defending Google Books from copyright infringement claims. Following extensive litigation on copyright and antitrust issues, Google prevailed on summary judgment, resulting in Daralyn being named an Attorney of the Year by California Lawyer magazine.

Daralyn Durie

Partner

Ragesh Tangri brings diverse experience representing clients ranging from individuals to Fortune 100 companies in high-stakes intellectual property and trade secret disputes, in addition to commercial litigation and legal malpractice, in jurisdictions across the country. Ragesh regularly represents major technology companies, law firms, and individuals in their most significant disputes.Ragesh has litigated matters involving high-stakes breach of contract and tort claims, as well as legal malpractice and professional negligence claims arising from work done in a variety of underlying areas, including intellectual property litigation, patent prosecution, general corporate matters, and tax. He has, during several pleadings motions, obtained complete dismissal of all claims asserted against law firm clients.Ragesh also has substantial experience with intellectual property litigation, including representing Palo Alto Networks in trade secret and patent litigation, Uber in trade secret litigation, Intel in inventorship litigation, Google in a hotly contested trade secret action brought by Microsoft, and helping secure a $180M award for Cadence Design Systems in its long-running dispute with Avant! Corporation.Ragesh has earned consistent recognition as a top practitioner in California and across the United States. Among his numerous awards, Chambers recently highlighted his “excellent” skill “in handling a range of contentious IP proceedings” in its guide for trademark, copyright, and trade secret litigation, and clients have called him “incredibly diligent and smart.” Ragesh has also been repeatedly ranked by publications including Best Lawyers and IAM Patent 1000.Ragesh serves on the Boards of the Northern District Historical Society (president), the California Law Review, and the Shotgun Players. He is a past president of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers and the Edward J. McFetridge Inn of Court, a former member of the Board of Governors of the Bar Association of San Francisco, a former member of the Board of Governors of the Justice and Diversity Center, a former member and co‑chair of the Lawyer Representatives of the Northern District of California to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, a former member and chair of BASF’s Judiciary Committee, and a former member of the Board of Directors of Slow Food Nation. He has taught the Introduction to Civil Procedure and Law on Lawyering courses at Berkeley Law School and spoken frequently on issues, including trade secret law, professional negligence, ethics, claim construction, and the differences between the U.S. and Canadian legal systems.Ragesh earned his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. He clerked for the Hon. A. Raymond Randolph on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In 2009, Ragesh co‑founded Durie Tangri, a premier litigation boutique firm acquired by Morrison Foerster in 2022.

Ragesh Tangri

Fitz Collings is an IP litigator who puts science first to develop innovative litigation strategies for life sciences and technology companies.Fitz counsels some of the largest pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and technology companies in the world on complex intellectual property matters. His experience over the past decade includes high-profile patent litigation involving immunotherapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer, for which he was recognized by Who’s Who Legal: Life Sciences in 2017 and 2018; trade secret proceedings in district courts and before the International Trade Commission; numerous Hatch-Waxman Act cases in district courts around the country; and representation of life sciences, biotechnology, and technology companies before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Fitz also regularly serves as a trusted advisor to emerging companies—for whom IP is often their greatest asset—in structuring their growth and preparing for future litigation.Fitz maintains an active pro bono practice in which he represents clients in Medicaid coverage disputes and immigration matters. His recent pro bono work involved representing some of the most vulnerable members of our communities in partnership with Maryland Disability Law Center, Children’s Law Center, Public Counsel, and Southern Poverty Law Center.Fitz earned his B.A. in biology from Cornell University. He received his J.D. from the College of William & Mary, where he served as the technical editor of the Environmental Law and Policy Review and as president of both the American Constitution Society and the Student Intellectual Property Society. Prior to law school, Fitz worked as a scientific researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic, and he draws on this experience to provide legal advice grounded in science to all of his clients.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><div><ul><li>A major technology company in a complex intellectual property case involving trade secret, copyright, patent, and antitrust claims.</li><li>A global pharmaceutical company in worldwide patent litigation and PTAB proceedings involving a first-in-class antibody immunotherapy product.</li><li>A global pharmaceutical company in district court patent litigation under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act and PTAB proceedings involving a prominent biologic product.</li><li>A global pharmaceutical company in numerous district court litigations under the Hatch-Waxman Act involving a small-molecule product.</li><li>Global pharmaceutical companies in district court litigation involving a blockbuster small-molecule product.</li><li>A global pharmaceutical company in litigation to invalidate an antibody patent under license, securing a highly favorable settlement.</li><li>A biotechnology company in district court litigation and PTAB proceedings regarding microfluidic devices.</li><li>A chemical manufacturer in a trade secret dispute before the International Trade Commission.</li><li>A global pharmaceutical company in a trademark infringement and counterfeiting dispute.</li></ul></div><div style="position: absolute;left: -10000px;top: 0px;width: 1px;height: 1px;overflow-x: hidden;overflow-y: hidden;" id="_mcePaste">Fitz Collings is an IP litigator who puts science first to develop innovative litigation strategies for life sciences and technology companies.Fitz counsels some of the largest pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and technology companies in the world on complex intellectual property matters. His experience over the past decade includes high-profile patent litigation involving immunotherapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer, for which he was recognized by Who’s Who Legal: Life Sciences in 2017 and 2018; trade secret proceedings in district courts and before the International Trade Commission; numerous Hatch-Waxman Act cases in district courts around the country; and representation of life sciences, biotechnology, and technology companies before the Patent and Trademark Appeal Board (PTAB). Fitz also regularly serves as a trusted advisor to emerging companies—for whom IP is often their greatest asset—in structuring their growth and preparing for future litigation.Fitz maintains an active pro bono practice in which he represents clients in Medicaid coverage disputes and immigration matters. His recent pro bono work involved representing some of the most vulnerable members of our communities in partnership with Maryland Disability Law Center, Children’s Law Center, Public Counsel, and Southern Poverty Law Center.Fitz earned his B.A. in biology from Cornell University. He received his J.D. from the College of William & Mary, where he served as the technical editor of the Environmental Law and Policy Review and as president of both the American Constitution Society and the Student Intellectual Property Society. Prior to law school, Fitz worked as a scientific researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic, and he draws on this experience to provide legal advice grounded in science to all of his clients. </div>

Fitz Collings

Hannah Jiam is a partner in Morrison Foerster's Intellectual Property Litigation Group.Hannah's practice focuses on the intersection of technology and law, and her litigation experiences involve a broad range of technologies, including software, medical devices, and pharmaceutical drugs.Prior to joining the firm, Hannah was an attorney at Durie Tangri LLP, where she counseled clients and litigated matters involving patent, copyright, trademark, and administrative law, among others. Hannah also clerked for Judge Kathleen O'Malley at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Hannah is a former prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, where she represented and argued on behalf of the U.S. federal government in the general misdemeanors unit.Hannah earned her J.D. from the UC Berkeley School of Law, where she was a Robert Barr scholar, co-president of the Patent Law Society, and a student board member of the UC Berkeley Center for Law & Technology. She received a B.S. with honors in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

Hannah Jiam

Sydney Cooper’s practice focuses on a broad range of intellectual property matters, including trademark, copyright, trade secret, and patent litigation, as well as right of publicity and NIL (name, image, and likeness) counseling. She has significant experience supporting clients including technology startups, content creators, and athletes on the development, licensing, and commercialization of their IP across e-commerce and digital and social media platforms.Sydney also has significant experience with labor and employment issues, including employee mobility and confidentiality concerns, as well as antitrust counterclaims in patent and other IP infringement matters.Sydney clerked for the Honorable Lydia Kay Griggsby at the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.Sydney received her J.D. from Howard University School of Law, where she was a Senior Notes and Comments Editor for Howard Law Journal, a member of the Intellectual Property Students Association, a Henry Ramsey Dean’s Fellow for the Legal Research and Writing Program, and a student attorney for the Investor Justice and Education Clinic. Sydney holds a B.A., cum laude, in international business management from Virginia Commonwealth University.