NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – A patent infringement suit filed a year ago by Beckman Coulter and Orchid Cellmark against Sequenom has been dismissed, Sequenom disclosed in a filing with US Securities and Exchange Commission today.
Sequenom said that on June 22, the parties filed a stipulation of dismissal with the US District Court for the Southern District of California in which the claims made by Beckman and Orchid were dismissed, as were the counterclaims by Sequenom. The parties agreed to bear their own attorneys' fees and costs.
The suit was filed on June 5, 2008, and alleged that Sequenom was infringing three US patents held by Orchid and licensed to Beckman. Specifically, the plaintiffs had claimed that Sequenom's MassArray iPlex products for SNP genotyping applications were infringing the three patents — US Nos. 5,888,819; 6,004,744; and 6,537,748. Beckman Coulter sells the GenomeLab SNPstream Genotyping System, a competing platform.
Sequenom said that the dismissal came after a Markman hearing held on June 11. The San Diego-based firm also said that it is not required to make any payments to Beckman Coulter or Orchid, and it was not required to take a license to the patents.