Aaron Bouchie
 

On November 10, A US federal jury declared that Affymetrix's (Santa Clara, CA) GeneChip microarrays infringe upon patents held by Oxford Gene Technology Limited (OGT; Oxford, UK), but more trials will be necessary before damages can be properly determined. In April, a UK High Court ruled that Affymetrix did not have claim to the technology through its July 1998 collaboration with Beckman Coulter (Fullerton, CA) (Nat. Biotechnol. 18, 477), but on November 2 a UK Court of Appeal found that Beckman's license to these "Southern Patents" was transferred when Affymetrix acquired Beckman's microarray business in June 1999. Now, OGT CEO Andy Millar says "We anticipate 17-months-worth of back-royalties for infringement damages, which will be tripled if we are successful in our appeal that Affymetrix's infringement was indeed willful." OGT has also filed to appeal the UK appellate decision, while Affymetrix has filed a patent invalidation lawsuit against OGT.