Jury Rules that Stratagene Infringed on Invitrogen Patent

A federal district court jury in Texas announced that La Jolla, CA-based Stratagene had infringed on a patent held by Carlsbad, CA-based Invitrogen, according to the Associated Press.
   The jury verdict found that the Stratagene products infringed an Invitrogen patent involving a process allowing bacteria to absorb foreign DNA. Stratagene is a manufacturer of life science research and testing products while Invitrogen is a manufacturer of life science products.
   Invitrogen was awarded a 15% royalty rate on sales of the infringing products or approximately $7.8 million in damages, from 1997 and 2004. The jury did not award lost profits to Invitrogen because Stratagene used a non-infringing manufacturing process. Invitrogen had been seeking $32 million in lost profits.
   The decision comes following Invitrogen won an appeal and the case was handed back to the federal district court. Invitrogen had initiated its suit in March 2001.