NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Genetic Technologies today said that the US Patent and Trademark Office has affirmed the validity of certain claims of a primary non-coding DNA patent held by the Australian firm.
In a formal notification to Genetic Technologies, the USPTO states that certain claims of US Patent No. 5,612,179 "are confirmed" while other claims "are not re-examined," Genetic Technologies said.
Last summer, the company received formal notification from USPTO that it had received and granted a request for ex parte re-examination of claims 1-18 and 26-32 of the '179 patent. The request was made by Merial, one of several defendants in a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Genetic Technologies in May 2011, which is pending in federal court in Delaware.
"The successful resolution of the re-examination of one of our key patents will once again reinforce the strength of the company's non-coding patent portfolio," Genetic Technologies' CEO Alison Mew said in a statement. "With the removal of what some potential licensees have apparently used as a reason to delay settlement discussions, we hope that such negotiations will now resume in earnest, with further licenses to our technology then being granted."