Affymetrix Ratchets Up Legal Battle Against Illumina
Affymetrix expects the UK and German trials to occur in late 2008 or early 2009. The second phase of the company’s current US trial to determine the validity of Affymetrix’s patent is scheduled to begin February 11, 2008 (see IBO 9/30/07), and a third phase to determine if Illumina’s infringement was willful is expected to take place in May or June. This month, Illumina requested that the US Patent and Trademark Office reexamine and invalidate the five patents that are the subject of this suit.
Santa Clara, CA 10/24/07; San Diego, CA 10/125/07—Affymetrix announced that it has filed new patent lawsuits against Illumina in the US, the UK and Germany, alleging infringement of eight patents. Three of the US patents (Patent Nos. 5,902,723, 6,403,320, and 6,576,424) and the three EU Patents (Patent Nos. 0834575, 0853679 and 0799897) relate to Illumina’s BeadArray products. Two US patents (Patent Nos. 6,420,169 and 7,056,666) concern Illumina’s Solexa DNA sequencing technology. Illumina stated it has yet to be served with the suits, and CEO Jay Flatley commented: “All of these patents expire in or before 2010, except for two European patents. These patents (except European Patent 0799897) belong to the same family and are related to some of the patents that Affymetrix asserted against us in a litigation it commenced in 2004. We will continue to defend and support our customers against Affymetrix’s unfounded claims.” Earlier this year, Affymetrix prevailed in the first phase of a US patent infringement suit against Illumina when the jury awarded the company $16.7 million in damages (IBO 3/15/07). Illumina is appealing the verdict.
