Monday, July 20, 2009

HandyLab Files Declaratory Judgment Action against Caliper Life Sciences

On July 13 HandyLab, Inc., a Michigan company that develops and manufactures nucleic acid extraction and microfluidic real-time PCR instruments and reagents, filed a declaratory judgment action against Caliper Life Sciences. The HandyLab complaint alleges that thirteen Caliper patents relating to microfluidics are invalid and not infringed by HandyLab's products or activities. According to the complaint, Caliper’s Director of Business Development sent letters to HandyLab in May and June expressing Caliper’s belief that the thirteen patents "read on HandyLab's products or services,” and offering to license the patents to HandyLab. The complaint also alleges that Caliper sent a similar letter to Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., a distributor of HandyLab's products. A copy of the complaint is provided here.

Last February, Caliper asserted some of these patents in a lawsuit filed against Shimadzu, a manufacturer of scientific instruments, in the Eastern District of Texas.