Applied Biosystems and Amersham plc Settle Sequencing Patent Litigation
FOSTER CITY, Calif. & LONDON--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 26, 2002-- Applied Biosystems Group (NYSE:ABI - news), an Applera Corporation business, and Amersham plc (LSE, NYSE, OSE: AHM) today announced that they have reached a court-mediated settlement which ends all current patent litigation between the two companies.
The settlement, reached under the auspices of United States Magistrate Judge Edward A. Infante, Northern District of California, includes a cross-licensing agreement covering all patents involved in the litigation, and a co-development arrangement for the joint development, supply and commercialization of certain new DNA analysis technologies. Both companies' current product offerings will continue to be available. Financial terms were not disclosed.
``We are pleased to have ended all litigation between the two companies,'' said Sir William Castell, chief executive of Amersham plc. ``The agreement will give us access to other segments of the sequencing market, allowing us to build on the strong position we have already established in the very high throughput segment, and will enable both companies to bring further innovation more quickly to all of our customers.''
``Applied Biosystems is pleased to have reached this agreement with Amersham, which will provide us with access to a broader range of sequencing technology and will enable us to focus our resources on bringing continuing innovation to academic and commercial researchers,'' said Michael W. Hunkapiller, Ph.D., president of Applied Biosystems. ``Customers of both firms can benefit from an increased flow of new products further enabling robust, high efficiency DNA sequencing.'' ... |
