Illumina secures injunction against BGI
Genetic sequencing company Illumina has obtained a preliminary injunction against its China-based rival BGI.
Yesterday, June 16, Illumina announced that the US District Court for the Northern District of California granted the injunction in two patent infringement suits Illumina filed against BGI.
In June last year, 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.
Then, in February 2020, Illumina asked the California court to issue a preliminary injunction, in a bid to halt BGI’s proposed plan to distribute sequencing systems and reagents on a “no-cost trial basis”. The suit claimed patent infringement of US numbers 7,771,973; 7,541,444; and 10,480,025.
Late last week, Judge William Orrick issued the preliminary injunction, which prohibits BGI from launching its sequencing instruments and related reagents in the US. According to Illumina, the order prohibits the supply, use or sale of both the standard and “CoolMPS” chemistries.
Charles Dadswell, senior vice president and general counsel for Illumina, said: “We are pleased with the court’s decision. It validates that BGI has blatantly copied Illumina’s proprietary sequencing chemistry.”
Related patent suits are pending in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the UK.
A spokesperson for BGI’s subsidiary MGI said the company respects the court's ruling on Illumina's request for a preliminary injunction, but does not agree with this decision and is evaluating its options, including an immediate appeal of this ruling.
“MGI also looks forward to the final decision on this matter after a full trial on the merits has occurred. In the meantime, the results of this judgment will not affect MGI ’s business operations outside the US,” they added.
The spokesperson called Illumina’s request for the temporary ban an “obvious attempt by Illumina to maintain its monopolistic market position and suppress the development of the industry for as long as possible”.
