Plaintiff
7 cases as plaintiff.
Company overview. Affymetrix, Inc. was a Santa Clara, California-based genomics and life-sciences tools company founded in 1991–1992 as a unit of Affymax and later taken independent. It listed on Nasdaq (ticker: AFFX) in June 1996 and operated as a public company until Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired it for roughly $1.3 billion (about $14.00/share); the deal closed March 31, 2016, and its products were later folded into Thermo Fisher's Applied Biosystems brand. In its final independent fiscal year (2015) it reported total revenue of about $360 million; public profiles put its headcount anywhere from roughly 700 to 1,150 employees.
Products / operations. Affymetrix was a pioneer of DNA microarray ("gene chip") technology, fabricating high-density oligonucleotide probe arrays using semiconductor photolithography techniques. Its GeneChip system — probe arrays, reagents, fluidics and scanning instruments, and analysis software — supported gene-expression analysis, genotyping, and copy-number/cytogenetics work. Later product families included the Axiom genotyping solution, CytoScan and OncoScan clinical/cytogenetic arrays, the GeneTitan and GeneAtlas instruments, the QuantiGene/ViewRNA assay lines, PCR reagents (e.g., ExoSAP-IT), and, after its 2012 eBioscience acquisition, flow-cytometry antibodies and immunoassay reagents. Customers included pharmaceutical, biotech, diagnostic, and agricultural companies plus academic and government labs.
Patent-litigation posture. Affymetrix was a classic operating company — a pioneer and leading seller of microarray systems that also aggressively built and enforced its own IP. The tracked docket shows active two-way litigation: one suit as plaintiff (N.D. California) and one as defendant (D. Delaware), both filed within two weeks of each other in June 1999. The venues (N.D. Cal. and D. Del.) are standard corporate/research hubs, not plaintiff-friendly outliers like the Eastern District of Texas.
Notable cases. The two tracked suits are opposite sides of a single transatlantic dispute with Oxford Gene Technology Ltd. (OGT), the UK licensor of DNA-array patents based on Oxford professor Edwin Southern's work. OGT accused Affymetrix's GeneChip products of infringing U.S. Patent 5,700,637, while Affymetrix claimed rights through its purchase of Beckman Coulter's microarray business and separately sued OGT. A Delaware jury found infringement in 2000; the companies settled in March 2001, with Affymetrix recording roughly a $19 million charge.
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Affymetrix sued Illumina in the District of Delaware on October 24, 2007, asserting U.S. Patent Nos. 5,902,723; 6,403,320; 6,420,169; 6,576,424; and 7,056,666 against Illumina BeadArray and Solexa products. The case settled in January 2008 for $90 million, with dismissals with prejudice and covenants not to sue.
Affymetrix filed this declaratory-judgment action seeking a declaration that it held a valid license to the patents and therefore did not infringe. The action was related to the Delaware litigation and was folded into the parties' global settlement in March 2001.
Affymetrix sued Hyseq in the Northern District of California, initially asserting US 5,744,305 and US 5,795,716; the complaint was amended on September 1, 1998 to add US 5,800,992 claims 1 and 3. The case proceeded through Markman claim construction, but the narrative could not confirm a final judgment or settlement.
Affymetrix alleged willful infringement of the '934 patent based on Synteni/Incyte's high-density GEM arrays, seeking injunctive relief, damages, treble damages, costs, and attorney fees. The case was transferred to the Northern District of California and later encompassed related array patents. The parties settled on December 21, 2001, with non-exclusive, royalty-bearing cross-licenses and a net cash payment to Incyte.
Affymetrix sued Illumina in the District of Delaware asserting multiple patents including US 5,795,716. After a Markman order in August 2006 and a jury verdict for Affymetrix in March 2007, the action was dismissed with prejudice by stipulated order on January 16, 2008.
Affymetrix sought a declaration of unenforceability for inequitable conduct, alleging that UPI/Competitive Technologies failed to disclose the Caruthers & Matteucci 1980 Tetrahedron Letters article during prosecution of the '066 and '679 patents. The court denied defendants' Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss and allowed a patent misuse theory concerning the '679 patent. The '066 patent expired 2001-07-03.
Affymetrix brought an action against Hyseq and Incyte in the Northern District of California asserting Affymetrix's own array patents ('934, '305, '992, and '716). The 2001 decision at 132 F. Supp. 2d 1212 is a Markman claim-construction ruling and did not address US 6,018,041.