Eppendorf Sues Nanosphere for IP Infringement

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – German life sciences company Eppendorf has filed a lawsuit against Nanosphere alleging that it is infringing a patent that covers its microarray technology.

Eppendorf said today that it has filed the suit in the US District Court for the District of Delaware against Northbrook, Ill.-based Nanosphere, claiming that it has willfully infringed on a patent covering its Silverquant microarray technology, which is offered in its Silverquant scanner and detection kit and has been licensed to two companies for commercialization.

The patent at the center of the case is US patent No. 7,321,829, and is titled, "Method for the identification and/or the quantification of a target compound obtained from a biological sample upon chips."

Eppendorf said that it is seeking "treble damages of substantial magnitude" and legal fees.

"Eppendorf has invested heavily into the development of the Silverquant technology and the associated products over the past years," Sven Bulow, managing director at Eppendorf Biochip Systems, said in a statement. He said that the firm "will do what is necessary to protect our rights."

A Nanosphere spokesperson told GenomeWeb Daily News via e-mail that the firm "believes the case is without merit and will vigorously defend its position."