NanoString flash update
Current status of the IP litigation vs 10X Genomics
10X Genomics $TGX @10xGenomics sued its competitor NanoString $NSTG over several patents at Munich Regional Court in Feb 2022 and at the Unified Patent Court Court in Jun 2023. Both courts imposed sales bans against NanoString in Germany and Europe respectively to prevent NanoString selling its CosMx Spatial Molecular Imager (SMI) CosMX instruments and reagents for RNA detection, which are the equivalent of 10X Genomics Xenium product line.
The European Unified Patent Court of Appeal has now issued its judgment in the appeal proceedings for this case by overturning the preliminary injunction impacting NanoString’s CosMx Spatial Molecular Imager (SMI) CosMX in the EU. NanoString can immediately resume sales of all CosMx products in the following EU countries:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, and Sweden.
The UPC Court of Appeal’s detailed ruling cited "substantial concerns" about the validity of the asserted claim of European Patent 4108782B1, held by 10x Genomics, according to NanoString, noting that it is "highly probable that the patent will not prove to be legally valid."
Meanwhile, in a separate decision in December concerning the related European patent 2794928 B1, the German Higher Regional Court of Munich ordered the lifting of an injunction on the sale of CosMx products in Germany subject to a security bond payment, NanoString said. The firm is evaluating its next steps in Germany and, for now, the German injunction remains in place.
“[It is] highly probable that the patent will not prove to be legally valid.” Says Brad Gray, President and CEO of NanoString.
"We have maintained from the outset of this case that the patents being asserted by 10x and Harvard against us are invalid," NanoString President and CEO Brad Gray said in a statement. "The court’s ruling is significant validation of our position."
"We believe that with today's decision, the tide is turning in favor of NanoString and scientific freedom," he continued, noting that 10x's litigation "has caused untold disruption to scientific progress and tremendous harm to NanoString's customers, employees, and investors."
“Going back to 2021, 10x has chosen to deploy a highly questionable litigation campaign against NanoString and several other innovative companies in the marketplace in what we believe is an effort to eliminate competition in the research tools space to the detriment of science and the public good. “By seeking to enforce invalid and ill-gotten patents, 10x has caused untold disruption to scientific progress and tremendous harm. NanoString “will remain steadfast in our mission to invest our resources in innovation as opposed to litigation. Earlier in February, in an open letter to Genetic Engineering News, leading scientists sounded the alarm on the negative impact that patent litigation is having on the field of spatial biology and called for antitrust action. The CosMx SMI platform has been installed at approximately 180 customer sites to date.
Earlier this month, NanoString filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing damages it was ordered to pay as a result of its loss against 10x in a US patent infringement suit as the prime reason. The firm subsequently secured $47.5 million in loan funding.
10X Genomics has sued other companies recently, see the red arrows below: