Innogenetics: Jury finds Abbott willfully infringed patent; court awards $7 million in damages

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Sept. 11 - Innogenetics announced late Friday that a jury for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin unanimously found that Abbott Laboratories willfully infringed its U.S. Patent No. 5,846,704, which covers a method of genotyping the hepatitis C virus.

The verdict directs Abbott to pay Innogenetics $7 million for infringement damages to date, according to a news release from the Gent, Belgium, pharmaceutical company. That award may, at the judge's discretion, be increased up to three times because the jury specifically determined Abbott's patent infringement was willful, officials said.

Innogenetics said it will seek an injunction against the Abbott Park, Ill., pharmaceutical company's diagnostic products that infringe its '704 patent and pursue other available remedies.

The lawsuit began in September 2005. On Sept. 2, a jury returned a unanimous verdict for Innogenetics that the '704 patent was valid in all its aspects. Friday's verdict was a follow-on to that decision, designed to determine damages and whether the infringement had been willful.

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