Illumina Announces Markman Ruling in Litigation Against Affymetrix Favorable to Illumina Defenses and Counterclaims
Thursday August 17, 5:38 pm ET
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 17, 2006--Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN - News) announced today that District Court Judge Joseph J. Farnan of the U.S. District Court for Delaware has issued a Markman Order in the litigation brought by Affymetrix against Illumina. Affymetrix originally accused Illumina of infringing six patents, but withdrew its allegations as to one of these patents earlier this year. The patents remaining in this case are U.S. Patent Nos. 6,646,243 (the '243 patent), 6,355,432 (the '432 patent), 5,545,531 (the '531 patent), 6,399,365 (the '365 patent) and 5,795,716 (the '716 patent).
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The Court's August 16 Order interprets the disputed terms in the remaining patents asserted by Affymetrix. In its Order, the Court adopted Illumina's position as to the proper interpretation of certain of the key terms in dispute. Illumina believes the interpretations in the Court's Markman Order support the position it has taken throughout this case that it does not infringe Affymetrix's patents and that these patents are, in any event, invalid and unenforceable.
"We have strongly believed since this suit was filed that Affymetrix' allegations are without merit, and that this suit is a result of Affymetrix' unfortunate decision to compete in the courtroom rather than in the marketplace. We believe this ruling supports our non-infringement and invalidity positions and counterclaims in this case and we look forward to obtaining favorable results to that effect," said Jay Flatley, Illumina's CEO.
Affymetrix filed this suit against Illumina on July 26, 2004 in the U.S. District Court in the District of Delaware, asserting infringement of six Affymetrix patents. On February 15, 2006, the Court allowed Illumina to file an amended answer and counterclaims, adding allegations of inequitable conduct as to each patent, antitrust violations and unclean hands. In March 2006, Affymetrix notified Illumina and the Court of its decision to drop U.S. Patent No. 6,607,887 (the '887 patent) from suit. Trial is presently scheduled to begin on October 16, 2006.
About Illumina
Illumina (www.illumina.com) develops and markets next-generation tools for the large-scale analysis of genetic variation and function. The Company's proprietary BeadArray technology -- used in leading genomics centers around the world -- provides the throughput, cost effectiveness and flexibility necessary to enable researchers in the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries to perform the billions of tests necessary to extract medically valuable information from advances in genomics and proteomics. This information will help pave the way to personalized medicine by correlating genetic variation and gene function with particular disease states, enhancing drug discovery, allowing diseases to be detected earlier and more specifically, and permitting better choices of drugs for individual patients. |
