NEW YORK – Bio-Rad Laboratories and Qiagen have agreed to settle a patent dispute pending in the US District Court for the District of Delaware, the firms announced on Wednesday.
The court settlement is pursuant to a global settlement and patent cross-licensing agreement related to digital PCR technology, Bio-Rad and Qiagen said in separate identical statements.
The patents that were the subject of the dispute are either assigned to or licensed by Bio-Rad and relate to digital PCR or cell capture methods used in digital PCR.
The settlement now grants each company mutual rights to their respective digital PCR technologies, Bio-Rad and Qiagen said.
Bio-Rad entered the digital PCR space in 2011 with the acquisition of QuantaLife and its Droplet Digital PCR system.
Qiagen, meanwhile, launched the QIAcuity digital PCR system in Europe in 2020. It filed suit against Bio-Rad last year seeking a declaration of non-infringement on digital PCR patents after receiving letters from Bio-Rad asserting the technology infringed on Bio-Rad's patented methods.
Bio-Rad previously settled a patent dispute with Stilla Technologies. The firm also sued Dropworks but then later acquired the startup.