After a judge in California barred Merck (MRK) from asserting its claims against Gilead (GILD) in their patent fight over sofosbuvir, effectively freeing Gilead from the liability of the $200M judgment the jury had awarded Merck, Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges said the ruling is positive for Gilead and validates the company's assertions that Merck's claims were without merit. The verdict "effectively ends round 1" with a solid win for Gilead that gives it with "considerable leverage" should the companies decide to settle, said Porges, who sees the fight moving now to the appeals courts. The firm keeps an Outperform rating on Gilead shares.