Company: NCNA
Filing Date: 2025-03-20
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000950170-25-042709
Chunk: 72

Company: NuCana plc
Filing Date: 2025-03-20
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 3
Chunk 72
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 with composition of matter claims directed to Acelarin in Japan and Canada which we believe are invalid for the same reasons stated by the USPTO. To address these patents in Japan and Canada, and any equivalent patents that may be issued in other jurisdictions, may require oppositions, patent litigation or other administrative proceedings as necessary, which may be costly and time-consuming. If we do not choose to challenge any such granted patent, or are not successful in the challenge, then there is the possibility of a patent infringement lawsuit by

BrightGene, which may also be costly and time-consuming for us to challenge in order to establish the invalidity of its patents. These activities could also result in substantial cost to us and could result in significant diversion of the efforts of our management and technical personnel.
 An adverse outcome of any such litigation or proceeding could subject us to significant liabilities to third parties, require disputed rights to be licensed from third parties (which licenses may not be available at all or on reasonable terms) or require us to cease using our technology, which could delay or prevent the development and commercialization of our current or future product candidates. If we engage in patent litigation or other administrative proceedings to defend our patents, there is no guarantee that we will be successful in defending our patents, which would result in a loss of the challenged patent right to us and thus adversely affect our business.
 We may become involved in administrative adversarial proceedings in the USPTO or in the patent offices of foreign countries brought by a third party to attempt to cancel or invalidate our patent rights, which could be expensive, time consuming and cause a loss of patent rights.
 The Leahy-Smith Act created for the first time new procedures to challenge issued patents in the United States, including post-grant review and inter partes review proceedings, which some third parties have been using to cause the cancellation of selected or all claims of issued patents of competitors. For a patent with a priority date of March 16, 2013 or later, a petition for post-grant review can be filed by a third party in a nine-month window from issuance of the patent. A petition for inter partes review can be filed immediately following the issuance of a patent if the patent was filed prior to March 16, 2013. A petition for inter partes review can be filed after the nine-month period for filing a post-grant review petition has expired for a patent with a priority date of March 16, 2013 or later. Post-grant review proceedings can be brought on any ground of challenge, whereas