LARCHMONT, N.Y.–LadaTech LLC, which is jointly owned by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and IP Finance Holdings, announced today that a jury has found that Illumina Inc. (ILMN) has infringed a patent owned by LadaTech covering essential aspects of the Solexa DNA sequencing technology in a major patent infringement lawsuit in Delaware. (LadaTech, LLC v. Illumina, Inc. and Solexa, Inc., in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.

This verdict is an important reaffirmation of the importance of the LadaTech patent” says LadaTech’s CEO Nicholas Didier. “This is further enhanced by the fact that in a recent re-examination proceeding in the US Patent and Trademark Office the patent claims were uphelt over the prior art cited by Illumina.” This proceeding was initiated at Illumina’s request.

The LadaTech patent covers a process of DNA amplification required for the Sample Preparation and Cluster Station amplification steps of the Illumina DNA sequencing systems. A Delaware jury unanimously found that the LadaTech patent is valid and that Illumina has infringed it directly, and by contributing to and inducing infringement by its customers that perform the amplification steps. The products found to infringe include those used with Illumina’s Hi Seq, Mi Seq and the Genome Analyzer IIx systems.