This story has been updated to address requests for comment from Illumina and ApexBio Technology
NEW YORK – Illumina has sued ApexBio Technology, a Houston-based molecular biology reagents supplier, alleging patent infringement.
In a complaint filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Illumina alleged that in 2019, ApexBio began selling a next-generation sequencing library preparation kit for Illumina's platform without authorization, infringing Illumina's US Patent No.10,184,122 titled "Transposon End Compositions and Methods for Modifying Nucleic Acids."
Illumina said that in January 2019, ApexBio ordered two Illumina library preparation products. "After purchasing and examining Illumina's … products, ApexBio began making its own product," according to the complaint.
Illumina demanded a jury trial and asked the court for a declaration that ApexBio willfully infringed Illumina's patent, an injunction against the firm, damages, costs, and attorneys fees, among other relief.
The San Diego-based sequencing technology firm was issued the '122 patent nine days before ApexBio allegedly ordered the Illumina library prep products.
Illumina declined to comment. ApexBio did not respond to request for comment.