Coby Nixon Quoted in Bloomberg Law
March, 2026 - Los Angeles, California
Moderna Vaccine Patent Deal Sets Up High-Stakes Immunity Appeal
By: Christopher Yasiejko
“The contingent payment “effectively prices the risk” of Moderna’s government-contractor defense while preserving a live dispute for Federal Circuit review, said Coby Nixon, chair of Buchalter’s litigation practice group in Atlanta. That structure matters because federal courts generally won’t decide purely theoretical questions once a case is settled. By tying another $1.3 billion to the appeal’s outcome, the companies ensure the court still has a “real controversy” to resolve, Nixon said.”
“Deals structured around appellate outcomes are “relatively uncommon, especially in patent litigation,” and typically involve modest adjustments rather than “billion-dollar pricing mechanisms,” he said.”
“The Federal Circuit’s interpretation of Section 1498 “could matter beyond this case for both sides, and others,” Nixon added, potentially shaping how the government-contractor defense applies to companies working on other federally funded or emergency programs.”
To view the full article as published by Bloomberg Law, click here.
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