Affy Sues Illumina in genome-analysis and array technologies

[Digi]

Affy recently(Oct 26th, 2007) filed additional patent-infringement lawsuit against Illumina.

See detail news:
http://www.genomeweb.com/issues/news/142940-1.html

Due to significance of the decision, we will discuss about patent claims in near future.

[ECO]

Great topic to start off this forum, thanks B.

This Forbes article has a bit more info, particularly the patent filings that Affy is claiming are infringed upon:

In the new suits Affymetrix accuses Illumina of infringing US Patents No. 5,902,723, No. 6,403,320, No. 6,420,169, No. 6,576,424, and No. 7,056,666; and in the UK and Germany under European Patents No. 0834575, No. 0853679, and No. 0799897.

Google patent links here:

• 5,902,723: Analysis of surface immobilized polymers utilizing microfluorescence detection
• 6,403,320: Support bound probes and methods of analysis using the same
• 6,420,169: Apparatus for forming polynucleotides or polypeptides
• 6,576,424: Arrays and methods for detecting nucleic acids
• 7,056,666: Analysis of surface immobilized polymers utilizing microfluorescence detection

There is a fair amount of information on Affy's investor webpage

[apfejes]

Just to complete this discussion, it seems that the dispute was settled.

Press Release on Affymetrix's web page

and see also the thread started by ECO:

[seqinquire]

I am very interested in the impact of this patent dispute on users. Any comments will be appreciated!

[SNPsaurus]

I haven't felt any impact. What are some ways there may be an impact?

[seqinquire]

Maybe the effect was that some potential user/buyers were discouraged from buying Illumina because of the pending lawsuit during the litigation.

For example, Affy was seeking an injunction against any sale of Illumina products. So if the injunction was approved by the court, the choice of Illumina may have seemed risky to buyers/users during the litigation.

[SNPsaurus]

We bought a GAII in early 2008, so were considering a purchase during this timeframe. I don't think it weighed heavily in the discussion for us. It seems that these large companies sue each other all the time, but nearly always find a way to continue doing business after some payment is made.

[seqinquire]

Thanks SNPsaurus for comment. So the many patent lawsuit are the games among manufacturers, and users in this market do not get affected. Very helpful!