20th Apr 2016 06:59
LONDON (Alliance News) - Premaitha Health PLC Wednesday that a trial regarding two patent infringement suits brought against the company by Illumina Inc will now likely take place in the summer of next year.
The High Court in London rejected an application by Illumina to change which patents would be determined at the previously scheduled trial in October 2016, and instead accepted Premaitha's counter-proposal for a combined trial on all three patents to be held at the next available date, likely to be summer 2017.
This means that the trial will now be held in conjunction with proceedings Illumina has brought against TDL Genetics Ltd, The Doctors Laboratory Ltd and Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc.
Illumina has claimed the IONA test, Premaitha's non-invasive pre-natal testing device, infringes on its patents, which Premaitha has denied.
The court agreed that the patents in question are all closely connected and only a combined trial would "allow all relevant matters to be addressed appropriately."
Premaitha also applied to include an antitrust defence and counterclaim, alleging that Illumina's actions raise "serious anticompetitive issues", and the court has ordered that Illumina has until May 28 to present any arguments as to why Premaitha's application should not be accepted.
"The court accepted our position that these three patents are all centred on the same technology. As a result, the court has adopted the timetable suggested by Premaitha, meaning all patent claims will be assessed simultaneously. We continue to believe the patents held by Illumina are invalid and that, in any event, the IONA test does not infringe them," said Chief Executive Officer Stephen Little in a statement.
"We are also very pleased that the company's antitrust defence has been presented to the court and will be heard again within two months. We have long believed that Illumina's motivation in pursuing these claims is to protect and extend its dominant position in the next generation sequencing market. If such anticompetitive conduct is allowed to go unaddressed by the UK courts, it will have severe repercussions for the non-invasive prenatal screening market, reducing choice and slowing down innovation in the clinical management of pregnant women," Little added.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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