Roche and Bluebird Bio Reach Sickle Cell Gene Therapy Trademark Settlement

The trademark infringement lawsuit between Roche and Bluebird Bio has been settled. The case surrounded Bluebird’s “Be the Spark,” advertising campaign for its sickle cell gene therapy. Roche claimed this name was similar to its own gene therapy division, Spark Therapeutics, and therefore infringed on its trademark. Spark Therapeutics argued that the name was intentionally chosen to weaken Roche’s gene therapy efforts by sowing confusion between the two.

According to Angus Liu of Fierce Pharma, “In its counterargument, bluebird criticized Roche for trying to “shut down, compromise, and/or silence” an effort to raise disease awareness. The Massachusetts-based biotech has also argued that the campaign wouldn’t cause any misunderstandings. Although both companies are working on gene therapies for blood disorders, Spark’s existing pipeline focuses on hemophilia.”

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(Source: Fierce Pharma, May 18^th, 2022)