NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Enzo Biochem said today that one of its patents at the center of a long-running intellectual property dispute has been found invalid by a federal judge.
US Patent No. 6,992,180 relates to modified nucleotides for use in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The patent is assigned to Enzo and is central to separate ongoing lawsuits between Enzo and Hologic, Gen-Probe (now part of Hologic), Roche Molecular Systems, and Becton Dickinson.
Enzo originally sued these companies and several others for allegedly infringing the '180 and other related patents. A handful of defendants settled with Enzo in recent years, while others sought to have Enzo's patents invalidated.
Enzo said today that the US District Court for the District of Delaware has granted summary judgment for the aforementioned defendants that the '180 patent is invalid for lack of enablement. However, the court also denied summary judgment that the patent is invalid for lack of written description.
The ruling addresses only one patent at issue in the ongoing patent infringement actions between Enzo and the defendants in each case, the company noted. Enzo also said that at least one other of its patents remains pending against each defendant in these cases or parallel actions.
The company said that it believes the court's ruling was in error, and is exploring options for review of the decision.