Illumina retaliates against BGI

Illumina Files Patent Infringement Suit Against BGI in Germany

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 29, 2019--Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) today announced that it has filed a patent infringement suit against BGI Group’s subsidiary, Latvia MGI Tech SIA, in the Düsseldorf Regional Court in Germany. The complaint alleges that BGI’s sequencing products, including the BGISeq-500, MGISeq-2000, and related chemistry reagents, infringe EP 1 530 578 B1. This patent covers Illumina’s proprietary sequencing-by-synthesis chemistry.

“Illumina will not tolerate the unauthorized, infringing use of its patented technology. Illumina filed this suit to defend the substantial investments we have made in our industry leading sequencing technology, as validated in our global intellectual property portfolio. We will continue to monitor the field and file patent suits where appropriate when our patents are infringed,” said Charles Dadswell, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Illumina.

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Berkeley gets another CRISPR patent

University of California granted another CRISPR patent

UC Berkeley announced Tuesday it received a patent for a single-molecule guide RNA that can be used with the Cas-9 enzyme by the gene-editing tool CRISPR in plants, bacteria and mammalian cells.

Why it matters: Discovering new methods of making CRISPR's gene editing more precise are key to its future success in modifying crops and treating diseases. But, there's also a race among institutions — especially between UC and the Broad Institute — to own CRISPR patents that are potentially worth billions, per Reuters.

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Background: CRISPR can use different enzymes, most often Cas9, to target specific genes for editing, but there remain safety concerns, as it's been shown to sometimes cause unwanted deletions, edit the wrong genes or move genes around. Guide RNAs can be used to locate the proper DNA sequence that needs to be cut.

By the numbers: This is UC Berkeley's third CRISPR patent and they expect a fourth to be issued soon.

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or go even deeper: UC Berkeley team awarded second CRISPR-Cas9 patent