Gen-Probe Incorporated (Gen-Probe) has filed a complaint for patent infringement against Becton, Dickinson And company (BD) in the US District Court for the Southern District of California on October 19, 2009. The complaint alleges that BD’s Viper XTR testing system infringes five of the company’s US patents covering automated processes for preparing, amplifying and detecting nucleic acid targets.
The Gen-Probe’s complaint also alleges that BD’s ProbeTec Female Endocervical and Male Urethral Specimen Collection Kits for Amplified Chlamydia trachomatis/Neisseria gonorrhoeae (CT/GC) DNA Assays used with the Viper XTR testing system infringe two of the company’s US patents covering penetrable caps for specimen collection tubes. Finally, the complaint alleges that BD has infringed the company’s US patent on methods and kits for destroying the ability of a nucleic acid to be amplified. The complaint seeks monetary damages and injunctive relief.