GENT, Belgium and WASHINGTON, March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Innogenetics announced that yesterday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit made its first substantive ruling in Abbott’s appeal of a trial court’s judgment and injunction in favor of Innogenetics. The court denied Abbott Laboratories’ motion for a stay of injunction pending appeal.
Following a January 10, 2007 ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin which permanently enjoined Abbott from any further sales, use or export of products, including components, that infringe on Innogenetics’ U.S. Patent No. 5,846,704 (“the ‘704 patent”), Abbott filed an emergency motion to stay the injunction pending its appeal. On January 19, the Federal Circuit temporarily stayed the injunction while it considered Abbott’s motion. Yesterday’s ruling lifted that temporary stay, ordering that the injunction be reinstated to full force and effect. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit handles all patent appeals.
“Yesterday’s decision marks a positive first step in the appeal process and reinforces our belief that we will prevail in the court of appeals, just as we did at trial,” said Frank Morich, CEO of Innogenetics.
Background on the Case
In September 2005, Innogenetics sued Abbott Laboratories alleging that Abbott was infringing the ‘704 patent, which covers a method of genotyping the Hepatitis C Virus. The court found the patent was infringed as a matter of law. On September 1, 2006, a jury returned a unanimous verdict for Innogenetics that the ‘704 patent was valid in all respects. On September 8, 2006, the same jury unanimously found that Abbott’s actions had been willful, and directed Abbott to pay Innogenetics $7 million in damages related to the infringement up to the time of the trial.
On January 4, 2007, the judge in this case dismissed Abbott’s requests for a new trial, affirmed the jury’s finding that the patent was valid in all respects and approved the award of $7 million in damages. The judge overturned the jury’s unanimous finding that Abbott’s infringement had been willful. On January 10, 2007, the judge granted Innogenetics’ request for a permanent injunction against Abbott, enjoining Abbott from any further sales, use or export of products, including components, that infringe on Innogenetics’ patented genotyping technology. Innogenetics later filed an appeal to reinstate the jury’s willfulness finding, and Abbott likewise appealed and moved to stay the permanent injunction pending appeal.
About Innogenetics
Innogenetics is an international biopharmaceutical company building parallel businesses in the areas of specialty diagnostics and therapeutic vaccines.
In 2005, total revenues (product sales, royalties, and license fees) reached euro 48.6 million, with a profitable Specialty Diagnostics Division. Its Diagnostics Division develops a large number of specialty products covering three areas: infectious diseases (hepatitis C, hepatitis B, and HIV), genetic testing (HLA tissue typing and cystic fibrosis), and neurodegeneration (Alzheimer’s disease). In its Therapeutics Division, Innogenetics focuses on the development of therapeutic vaccines to address unmet medical needs in the field of infectious diseases, with two compounds now in clinical trials (hepatitis C in phase IIb and hepatitis B in phase I).
Founded in 1985, Innogenetics is listed on Euronext Brussels [Ticker: INNX]. Innogenetics’ headquarters are in Gent, Belgium, with sales subsidiaries in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, and the United States. Innogenetics employs 525 people worldwide and has a market capitalization of approximately euro 248 million.
For further information, please contact: Innogenetics Filip Goossens Investor Relations Manager Phone + 32 9 329 1639 Fax + 32 9 245 7625 investor_relations@innogenetics.comwww.innogenetics.com TVA BE 0427.550.660 RPR Gent Feinstein Kean Healthcare Hal Mackins Phone 415-677-2747 Hal.mackins@fkhealth.com Forward-looking statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to projections of future revenues, operating income, and other risks. Prospective investors should be aware that these statements are estimates, reflecting only the judgments and projections of Innogenetics’ management, and no undue reliance should be placed on such forward-looking statements.
Innogenetics
CONTACT: Filip Goossens, Investor Relations Manager of Innogenetics, + 329 329 1639, Fax + 32 9 245 7625, investor_relations@innogenetics.com; HalMackins of Feinstein Kean Healthcare, +1-415-677-2747,Hal.mackins@fkhealth.com, for Innogenetics
