Stratagene appeals the jury verdict, feeling the damages are out of line with sales . . .
>>LA JOLLA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 2005--Stratagene Corporation (NASDAQ:STGN - News), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of specialized life science research and diagnostic products, announced today that it will appeal the jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the matter of Third Wave Technologies Inc. vs. Stratagene, which was heard in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
On August 31, 2005, the jury determined that Third Wave's 6,090,543 and 6,348,314 patents are valid and that certain embodiments of Stratagene's FullVelocity technology infringed those patents. The sales by Stratagene of products incorporating these embodiments have been less than $400,000 since inception. Stratagene was informed on September 2, 2005 that the jury decided to award Third Wave a total of $5.29 million in damages. Other details of the decision, including the possibility of an injunction on sales of certain FullVelocity products, and a motion filed by Stratagene pertaining to jurisdictional issues are being considered by the judge presiding over the case. The timing of a final judgment has not yet been determined.
Stratagene believes that the jury's verdict and the damages awarded were not supported by the facts of the case and as a result, the Company intends to appeal the decision. Stratagene intends to file an appeal in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. once a final judgment has been entered by the District Court. In addition to appealing the verdict, Stratagene will be seeking to have the damages amount reduced or eliminated. The Company also announced today that it has served Third Wave with the lawsuit that Stratagene filed on May 6, 2005 for infringement of Stratagene's patents covering its proprietary FullVelocity(TM) technology for the quantitative detection of nucleic acids. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware and seeks monetary damages as well as a permanent injunction against continued infringement by Third Wave for the sale of its Invader® Plus products. By pursuing the countersuit with Third Wave and appealing the jury verdict, Stratagene expects to incur additional legal costs that will impact its operating earnings. <<
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Cheers, Tuck |
