NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Illumina has filed a lawsuit against Ariosa Diagnostics and its parent firm, Roche Molecular Systems, for allegedly infringing one of its patents.
Illumina filed its suit Monday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California alleging that Ariosa is infringing its US Patent No. 7,955,794, entitled "Multiplex Nucleic Acid Reactions." Specifically, Illumina believes that Ariosa's microarray-based version of its Harmony Prenatal Test is infringing that patent.
In its suit, Illumina noted descriptions of Ariosa's test, including the array technology and the algorithm for assigning risk scores, as provided in a US patent publication.
Illumina and its Verinata Health subsidiary previously filed suits in the same US District Court against Ariosa alleging that its sequencing-based version of the Harmony Prenatal Test infringes the '794 patent and U.S. Patents No. 8,296,076 and 8,318,430. Those previous suits remain pending.
In its suit filed today, Illumina said that Ariosa's microarray test utilizes the same allegedly infringing technique that it uses in its sequencing-based test. It further alleges that the infringement "has been willful and deliberate," and as a result is asking the court to award it treble damages. Illumina also has asked the court to permanently enjoin Ariosa and Roche from further infringement.