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18 November 2019Big PharmaSaman Javed

Regents of the University of Michigan file patent suit against microscope maker

The  Regents of the University of Michigan have sued an optical microscope manufacturer for allegedly infringed one of its patents.

The  complaint, filed on Wednesday November 13 at the  US District Court for the Northern District of California, alleged that  Leica Microsystems makes and sells white light laser microscope systems which infringe one of its patents.

In biological and medical research, there is a technique wherein researchers use fluorescent labels to “tag” molecules of interest within a sample.

When the fluorescent labels are excited by light of a specific wavelength, they absorb the energy and emit light at a different wavelength, allowing for fluorescent detection of the labels.

The patent in dispute, US patent number 7,277,169 B2 entitled “Whole spectrum fluorescence detection with ultrafast white light excitation”, teaches a technique of simultaneously exciting multiple fluorescent labels at various wavelengths using a single white light laser.

The patent also covers a detector which identifies each fluorescent label individually as it is excited.

Prior to the ‘169 patented invention, the practice had been to use a single wavelength laser to excite a particular fluorescent tag within a sample, the university said.

According to the complaint, Leica’s microscope employs LightGate, a technique that Leica describes as removing “unwanted signal from the image data” using a time resolving detector, the same as which is allegedly claimed in the ’169 patent.

Additionally, the university said Leica has been “well aware” that professors at the university invented the white light laser and detector system that its microscope uses.

“The university has requested that Leica refrain from using its patented technology and invited Leica to take a licence and pay a fair royalty” but “Leica has refused to do so”.

“Leica has chosen instead to knowingly profit substantially from its use of the university’s patented invention,” the filing said.

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