San Diego, CA 5/5/09—Illumina, a supplier of genomic analysis instrumentation and consumables, has filed a patent infringement suit against microarray firm Affymetrix. Filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, the suit alleges that Affymetrix’s GeneChip HT Array Plate and HT Array Place Scanner infringe Illumina’s US Patent No. 7,510,841 (Methods of Making and Using Composite Arrays for the Detection of a Plurality of Target Analytes). Illumina stated that it is asking the court to enjoin Affymetrix from making and selling the products and for monetary damages. In an SEC filing, Affymetrix stated that it believes that the claims are without merit and that it will vigorously defend against them.