NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) — KeyGene and NuGen announced today that they have settled their patent infringement litigation, with each company agreeing to drop all claims against the other.
The dispute began in January when NuGen filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Northern District of California seeking a ruling that it did not infringe two US patents assigned to KeyGene NV, the Dutch parent organization of Maryland-based KeyGene. The suit also asked that both patents — No. 9,702,004, which claims a method for the high-throughput discovery, detection, and genotyping of one or more genetic markers in single or multiple samples; and No. 9,745,627, which covers a method for identifying gene mutations in members of mutagenized population — be ruled invalid.
In March, KeyGene asked that it be dismissed from the case, claiming that the lawsuit should have been filed only against its parent company. KeyGene then filed a countersuit in April, alleging that NuGen had infringed the '004 and '627 patents, as well as newly issued US patent No. 9,896,721, which covers a method for identifying one or more polymorphisms in nucleic acid samples.
This week, however, the companies disclosed that they had resolved the litigation surrounding all three patents. As part of the settlement, each company will pay its own fees and costs, and both have agreed to waive all rights to appeal. Additional terms were not disclosed.