SANTA CLARA, Calif., August 17, 2006 — 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:
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The patents-in-suit are not limited to in situ synthesis. |
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The patents-in-suit are not limited to probes chemically linked to a single surface. |
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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.
The Markman memorandum and opinion are below.
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