Seimens sued over patent infringement of COVID self test

Seimens sued over patent infringement of COVID self test.

In a patent infringement suit, North California biotech company, Cellex Inc sued Siemens Healthineers AG in the the Delaware deferral court. It is alleged that Seimens' COVID-19 rapid self-test violates patent covering Cellex design.

It is submitted that Siemens' Clintest-brand test have "substantially the same" visual design as Cellex's rapid COVID-19 antibody tests.

Cellex received a design patent in December covering its "testing cassette" -- its version of the device used in many rapid COVID-19 tests for receiving samples and displaying results. Design patents protect an object's visual features, while more-common utility patents protect how an invention works and is used.

Cellex's website said its test was the first COVID-19 antibody test to receive emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Cellex has sought for an unspecified amount of money damages and an order permanently blocking Siemens from infringing its patent.

Siemens has stated that it is expected to earn over 1.3 billion euros in revenue this year from rapid COVID-19 tests, raising its previous forecast of 700 million euros.