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21 February 2020AmericasSarah Morgan

Illumina asks court to halt BGI’s sequencer distribution

Genetic sequencing company Illumina is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop its China-based rival BGI from distributing DNA sequencers in the US.

In the latest development in the dispute between the two competitors, Illumina asked the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Wednesday, February 19 to halt BGI’s proposed plan to distribute sequencing systems and reagents on a “no-cost trial basis”.

Back in late June, US-based Illumina accused BGI of infringing US patent numbers 7,566,537 and 9,410,200, which cover Illumina’s sequencing-by-synthesis chemistry.

At the same, Illumina also filed a suit against BGI in the Federal Patent Court in Switzerland and a suit against BGI’s distributor, Genoks Genetik Hastalıklar Tanı Merkezi, in the Istanbul Civil Court for Intellectual and Industrial Rights, in Turkey.

On Wednesday, February 19, Illumina filed its motion for a preliminary injunction at the California court.

In its US motion, Illumina said: “Over the last few weeks, defendants have informed Illumina that they have a plan to try to distribute their infringing sequencing products to ‘key opinion leaders’ in the US. They plan to offer the infringing products on a ‘no-cost trial basis’ to these potential customers.”

Illumina added that this free trial model was designed to “inflict irreparable harm”.

The claim said: “A free trial offer is a classic marketing tool to penetrate desirable customers. Defendants’ explicit targeting of key opinion leaders is obviously intended to amplify this marketing effort to persuade purchasers broadly that defendants’ cheaper imitation sequencers, using Illumina’s patented, work well enough to be seriously considered compared to Illumina’s state-of-the-art patented sequencers.”

In an accompanying statement, Illumina’s chief commercial officer Mark Van Oene said that allowing BGI to place its sequencers with “even a limited number of key opinion leaders in the US would have commercial consequences that would likely cause irreparable harm to Illumina’s business and brand”.

In October last year, BGI subsidiary Complete Genomics filed a patent infringement counterclaim against Illumina, alleging that Illumina is using a number of gene sequencers which infringe its patent, US number 9,944,984.

District Judge William Orrick narrowed Complete Genomics’ countersuit in early February, but allowed claims of induced infringement to proceed.

In a statement, BGI’s subsidiary MGI (which was also named in the suit) said that Illumina’s motion is without merit.

“MGI believes that this motion is an example of Illumina attempting to tarnish MGI’s reputation, stifle competition, and limit consumer choice in the US market,” said the subsidiary.

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More on this story

Big Pharma
4 October 2019   A US subsidiary of Chinese genome sequencing company BGI has filed a patent infringement counterclaim against Illumina.
Americas
2 July 2019   Genetic sequencing company Illumina has continued its campaign of filing patent lawsuits against rival BGI, with the filing of three additional infringement suits.
Americas
18 June 2020   Genetic sequencing company Illumina has obtained a preliminary injunction against its China-based rival BGI.

More on this story

Big Pharma
4 October 2019   A US subsidiary of Chinese genome sequencing company BGI has filed a patent infringement counterclaim against Illumina.
Americas
2 July 2019   Genetic sequencing company Illumina has continued its campaign of filing patent lawsuits against rival BGI, with the filing of three additional infringement suits.
Americas
18 June 2020   Genetic sequencing company Illumina has obtained a preliminary injunction against its China-based rival BGI.