NEW YORK (Genomeweb News) – Fluxion Biosciences today has denied that it is infringing patents held by Cellectricon that are at the center of an IP infringement suit that initially began in July 2009 but resumed this week.
Cellectricon has claimed that Fluxion is infringing three of its US patents as well as a fourth patent held by Gyros but licensed to Cellectricon. The patents — US Nos. 7,390,650; 7,470,518; 7,563,614; and 5,376,252 — cover microfluidic technology used in Cellectricon's ion channel drug screening solution, the Dynaflow HT System.
In the suit, which was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, Cellectricon claims that Fluxion's IonFlux automated patch clamp system infringes the patents.
Gothenburg, Sweden-based Cellectricon and South San Francisco, Calif.-based Fluxion informed the court on Nov. 23, 2009 that they wished to explore a settlement "within the next 60 days."
However, Cellectricon said earlier this week that it had resumed the litigation.
In response, Fluxion CEO Jeff Jensen said yesterday that the firm would defend the lawsuit vigorously.
"Fluxion has invested considerable time and resources to develop its own intellectual property position for cell-based screening systems, and we respect the intellectual property rights of others," Jensen said. "Cellectricon's claim of patent infringement is a baseless attempt to block Fluxion's penetration and growth in the ion channel screening market."