Siemens filed the rehearing request in response to a February ruling that Enzo's patent application covering its nucleic acid signal amplification technology predates and invalidates a patent owned by Siemens and relating to its branched DNA diagnostic systems.
Enzo said that a USPTO board had denied Siemens' request for a rehearing in proceedings that favored Enzo's patent on direct detection of nucleic acid.
Marine Biochem's enzymes are being used in diagnostic kits sold by Siemens and sample-prep kits being tested by another unnamed company — relationships Marine Biochem hopes will help spark its transition from a B2B vendor to a company that sells research tools directly to end users.
The decision paves the way for Enzo to be issued a patent based on its prior application, and the company plans to "rapidly" develop and market products based on the technology for a wide variety of applications.
The suit revolves around patents owned by UNeMed, the technology-transfer organization for the UN Medical Center, and exclusively licensed to Abbot Laboratories, though Abbott is not listed as a co-plaintiff on the complaint.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have treated infants with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency using gene therapy in an early phase study.
In Nature this week: a genomic analysis of the snailfish Pseudoliparis swirei, ancient DNA analysis gives insight into the introduction of farming to England, and more.
