By Mark Chael --
On Thursday, January 11, 2007, Digene filed suit against
Third Wave Technologies, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Western
District of Wisconsin (Case No. 07-C-0022-C) alleging infringement of U.S.
Patent No. 5,643,715 (the '715 patent), in the latest skirmish of the ongoing
battle between these two companies over tests for human papillomavirus (HPV), a
cause of cervical cancer.
Third Wave (TWTI) markets the Invader® line of products
for the detection and diagnosis of disease using DNA and/or RNA analysis. Some of its products - for example the Invader® HPV A5/A6 Oligo Mix, Invader® HPV A7 Oligo Mix, and Invader® HPV
A9 Oligo Mix - are useful in the detection and diagnosis of HPV infection. The Invader® line of products and methods of
using such products are covered by a number of Third Wave's 45 issued U.S. patents and 36 published U.S. applications.
In its complaint, Digene alleges that the HPV A9 Oligo
Mix at least infringes the '715 patent. Digene's complaint alleges that the sole inventor, Wayne D.
Lancaster, assigned his rights to Georgetown University and that Digene is the
exclusive world-wide licensee. Digene's
complaint further alleges that Third Wave has had actual or constructive notice
of its allegedly infringing conduct since at least October 11, 2005.
Interestingly, a year ago, Digene and Third Wave entered
into an agreement to dismiss without prejudice a declaratory judgment action filed
by Third Wave against Digene for the same HPV detection technology. On January 13, 2006, both parties submitted a
stipulation of dismissal and proposed order to the U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Wisconsin (Case No. 05-C-0594-C).
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