Judge Issues Markman Order in Affymetrix Litigation with Illumina
18 August 2006 - 1:00PM
Business Wire
Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) announced today that District Court
Judge Joseph J. Farnan of the United States District Court for the
District of Delaware issued a Markman order in the litigation
brought by Affymetrix against Illumina. Affymetrix has accused
Illumina of infringing U.S. Patent Nos. 6,355,432, 6,646,243,
5,545,531, 6,399,365, and 5,795,716 (the "patents-in-suit"). In a
Markman decision, the District Court interprets disputed claim
language. The Court's August 16 Order addressed 15 disputed claim
terms in the five patents-in-suit. The Court agreed with
Affymetrix' proposed constructions for most terms and adopted only
two of Illumina's proposed constructions. The Court rejected
Illumina's primary contentions, and found instead that: -- The
patents-in-suit are not limited to in situ synthesis. -- The
patents-in-suit are not limited to probes chemically linked to a
single surface. -- The patents-in-suit are not limited to placement
of probes at predetermined locations (and therefore cover random
assembly of arrays). The Court's decision affirms the breadth of
Affymetrix' patent portfolio in covering the DNA microarray field
and related technology. In a separate decision, the Court also
denied Illumina's motion to dismiss the '716 patent for lack of
standing. The Court affirmed Affymetrix' ownership of and right to
sue on the '716 patent. "We are pleased with the Court's Markman
decision and look forward to proceeding to trial," said Barbara
Caulfield, Affymetrix' Executive Vice President and General
Counsel. Trial is scheduled to begin on October 16, 2006.
Affymetrix is seeking remedies including lost profits, a reasonable
royalty, trebled damages for willfulness, and a permanent
injunction. To view the Markman memorandum and opinion, please
visit:
http://www.affymetrix.com/corporate/media/illumina_announcement.affx
About Affymetrix Affymetrix scientists invented the world's first
high-density microarray in 1989 and began selling the first
commercial microarray in 1994. Since then, Affymetrix GeneChip(R)
technology has become the industry standard in molecular biology
research. Affymetrix technology is used by the world's top
pharmaceutical, diagnostic and biotechnology companies as well as
leading academic, government and not-for-profit research
institutes. More than 1,400 systems have been installed around the
world and nearly 4,000 peer-reviewed papers have been published
using the technology. Affymetrix' patented photolithographic
manufacturing process provides the most information capacity
available today on an array, enabling researchers to use a
whole-genome approach to analyzing the relationship between
genetics and health. Affymetrix is headquartered in Santa Clara,
Calif., with manufacturing facilities in Sacramento, Calif., and
Bedford, Mass. The Company maintains important sales and marketing
operations in Europe and Asia and has about 1,100 employees
worldwide. For more information about Affymetrix, please visit the
Company's website at www.affymetrix.com. All statements in this
press release that are not historical are "forward-looking
statements" under the federal securities laws. Such statements are
subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially, including but not limited to the risk that
further review of the Company's financial reporting for prior
periods will require further restatement, and the other risk
factors discussed in Affymetrix' Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2005 and other SEC reports, including its Form 10-Q
reports for subsequent periods. Affymetrix expressly disclaims any
obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or
revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to
reflect any change in Affymetrix' expectations or any change in
events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statements
are based.
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