Jury Grants $26.7M in Patent Suit Against Ariosa Diagnostics

A jury in a Northern California District Court awarded biotechnology company Illumina $26.7 million in a patent suit against Ariosa Diagnostics, finding that Ariosa used patented prenatal testing technology without authorization.

Illumina accused Ariosa of infringing upon its patents by performing Illumina’s Harmony Prenatal Test, alleging that the unauthorized use of the non-invasive DNA-based test caused the company irreparable damage.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office previously upheld the validity of the patents.

“This verdict again validates these patents, the hard work and ingenuity of the inventors, and their significant contribution” to noninvasive prenatal testing, said Charles Dadswell, Illumina’s senior vice president and general counsel.