US Patent Office Grants Thermo Request for Reexamination
Thermo Fisher Scientific told IBO that it does not comment on litigation matters. Applied Biosystems did not respond to IBO’s request for comment. In 2002, Applied Biosystems and MDS Sciex won their suit against Waters for infringement of this patent (see IBO 3/15/02).
Wilmington, DE 12/13/07—According to documents filed with the US District Court for the District of Delaware, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has agreed to Thermo Fisher Scientific’s request to reexamine US Patent No. 4,963,736 (“Mass Spectrometer and Method Improved Ion Transmission”), held by MDS and licensed to Applera/Applied Biosystems. The patent is the subject of Applied Biosystems and MDS’ patent infringement suit against Thermo Fisher Scientific (see IBO 9/15/04). The court had stayed the case pending the outcome of the request to the USPTO. The USPTO cited three issues relating to the patent and cites six prior art references.
