U.S. Court Awarded $19 Million in Favor of Natera in Patent Lawsuit

U.S. Court Awarded $19 Million in Favor of Natera in Patent Lawsuit

The U.S. District Court at Delaware ruled in favor of the Genetic testing company Natera Inc and was awarded with $19.3 million as damages recovered from Invitae Corp’s ArcherDX for infringing patents related to cancer detection.

The verdict passed by the jurors in the U.S. District Court, found that Invitae’s ArcherDX unit infringed each of three patents asserted by Natera and that none of the patents were shown to be invalid.

In 2020 Invitae bought Boulder, Colorado-based ArcherDX for $1.4 billion.

Though Natera notched a win, the damages number the jury settled on which covered lost profits and a reasonable royalty for sales of infringing cancer-testing products inside and outside the U.S. was roughly half of the $38 million Natera had requested before the Court.

The Austin, Texas-based Natera said in a statement that it was pleased with the verdict.

ArcherDX was first sued by Natera in 2020. Subsequently, in 2021, it amended its complaint wherein it alleged that several ArcherDX cancer tests violated its patent rights in technology for non-invasive cancer tests that use “cell-free DNA” from a patient’s blood.

ArcherDX defended before the U.S. District Judge Gregory Williams during the six-day trial by stating that the patents were invalid and that there was insufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find that its tests infringed.

However, the judge was of the view that Natera was entitled to $10 million in royalties and $9.3 million in lost profits.

Further, Invitae has separately sued Natera in Delaware Federal Court, claiming Natera’s Signatera cancer tests infringe three of its patents.