Roche has successfully persuaded a European appeals panel to revoke a patent held by Illumina\u2019s subsidiary, Verinata Health, for detecting fetal DNA in maternal blood. The European Patent Office (EPO) ruled that the patent lacked an inventive step, as a prior application from Ariosa Diagnostics, a Roche unit, had already described a similar method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Initially, the EPO Opposition Division upheld Verinata\u2019s patent, claiming priority from a 2011 U.S. patent application. However, Roche convinced the appeals board that Verinata\u2019s and the U.S. application\u2019s claims were not identical, shifting the priority date and making Ariosa\u2019s application prior art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This ruling follows other EPO setbacks for Illumina, which has lost multiple patents related to DNA sequencing. Despite the decision, Illumina maintains that the revoked patent is not a key part of its extensive noninvasive prenatal testing portfolio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roche was represented by Maiwald.<\/p>\n\n\n\n