Illumina files patent claim against Ariosa and The Doctors Laboratory

US-based gene sequencing company Illumina has claimed that The Doctors Laboratory’s (TDL) use of the Harmony prenatal test provided by Ariosa Diagnostics infringes its patent.

Illumina filed the claim at the English High Court yesterday, January 7.

The complaint concerns the alleged infringement of European patent number 0,994,963, which covers a non-invasive prenatal diagnostic test (NIPT), used to detect genetic abnormalities in a foetus.

Ariosa, which is also named as a defendant, manufactures the Harmony NIPT test and supplies the product to TDL, a company that specialises in providing laboratory results in diagnostic tests.

On the same day, Illumina also filed a claim against Centrum Badań and Medgenetix at the Warsaw Regional Court in Poland.

That dispute concerns the alleged infringement of European patent 2,183,693, which also covers non-invasive prenatal testing. Illumina has complained that the defendants’ use of the Iona NIPT product supplied by Premaitha Health is infringing the patent.

Last year, Illumina asserted two patents against Premaitha at the English court over its Iona test. The dispute has not yet been resolved.