Decision Diagnostics Shrugs Off New Attack As Johnson & Johnson Panics In Patent Case

LOS ANGELES, April 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Diagnostics Corp. (OTC PINK: DECN), the manufacturer, quality plan administrator and the exclusive worldwide sales, service and regulatory processes agent for the popular GenStrip™ 50, the FDA-cleared Green Alternative Strip, specifically designed to work with the market leading Johnson & Johnson's LifeScan OneTouch Ultra family of glucose testing meters, the most popular meter worldwide for diabetic use, announced today that Johnson & Johnson/Lifescan has requested an unscheduled Case Management Conference in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Pharma Tech announced last week that the Solicitor General of the United States had noticed its intention to intervene in support of Pharma Tech's legal arguments in that recent Johnson & Johnson/Lifescan appeal. Transparently responding to that Solicitor General announcement, Johnson & Johnson/Lifescan has submitted a request for an unscheduled Case Management Conference to supposedly identify a path to conflict resolution.  In actuality, it represents an overt effort to precipitate the court's final appeal ruling and to preclude the hearing of the evidence in the resultant anti-trust litigation.

Keith Berman, Principal Executive Officer of Decision Diagnostics, commented, "Apparently our recent Solicitor General announcement has forced Johnson & Johnson/Lifescan to fully embrace the inevitability of losing the '105 patent, and with it the totality of their questionable patent infringement case. The upcoming Appeals Court decision on the Johnson & Johnson/Lifescan foundational patent would necessarily shatter their blood glucose test strip franchise monopoly, and also dramatically introduce the now-likely profound implications of a pending financial judgment and possible punitive damages emanating from their egregious behavior. The rash and panicked request to the courts to permit a Case Management Conference clearly suggests that they now anticipate the eventual ramifications of their actions. It also strongly suggests that they are anxious to keep the case evidence and the appellate court's decision from a jury's scrutiny and evaluation.

The motion for an unscheduled Case Management Conference to resolve the case has been filed in an obvious attempt to salvage hope from its successive sustained and expected losses.  Not surprisingly, it has been introduced to the sole court to afford Johnson & Johnson/Lifescan any support at all in this 44-month-old case, in a transparent attempt to manipulate that court into forcing Pharma Tech's participation into yet another mandated mediation and to lay the foundation for a summary judgment claim.  This desperate effort to position for summary judgment - a case that has been stayed by the courts for almost two years before any facts have been put into evidence, any discovery begun or any expert witness deposed or examined - has been assessed by legal experts to have a remote probability for success.

Mr. Berman concluded, "Johnson & Johnson/Lifescan has elected to file the legal equivalent of the final seconds 'Hail Mary Pass.'  Facing imminent catastrophic patent losses that would profoundly impact the monopoly that they oversee, this motion is designed to divert attention from the facts of the case and shift focus towards another unnecessary mediation and their eventual filing of a summary judgment that will unmistakably add to their long list of legal failures. It is unfortunate that this case has devolved into a series of rash and emotional responses. If Johnson & Johnson/Lifescan had behaved professionally and appropriately, they would not now be facing the appropriate justice emanating from their actions."

Forward-Looking Statements:

This release contains forward-looking statements about our business or financial condition that reflect our assumptions and beliefs based on information currently available. We can give no assurance that the expectations indicated by such forward-looking statements will be realized. There may be other risks and circumstances that we are unable to predict. When used in this release, words such as "believes," "expects," "forecasts," "intends," "projects," "plans," "anticipates," "estimates," "will" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although there may be certain statements not accompanied by such expressions.

For further information about the Pharma Tech GenStrip™ 50, please visit the company's Web Sites: http://www.decisiondiagnostics.com or http://www.pharmatechdirect.com or http://www.new-genstrip.com.

GenStrip™ 50 test strips are a product of Pharma Tech Solutions, Inc., and are not manufactured, distributed, endorsed, or approved by nor associated with LifeScan, Inc. a Johnson & Johnson company, manufacturers and distributors of the OneTouch Ultra family of meters and OneTouch Ultra test strips.

SOURCE Decision Diagnostics Corp.

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