The Supreme Court Of The United States Denies Sequenom's Petition Requesting Review Of Decision On '540 Patent

SAN DIEGO, June 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sequenom, Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM), a life sciences company committed to enabling healthier lives through the development of innovative products and services, announced today that the Supreme Court of the United States denied its petition to review decisions by lower Federal courts that the claims of Sequenom's U.S. Patent No. 6,258,540 ("'540 Patent") are not patent eligible under the patent eligibility criteria established by the Supreme Court's Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories decision.  In the petition, Sequenom urged the Court to hear the case because the Court is uniquely suited to reconcile and interpret the patent eligibility criteria established in its Mayo decision.  Sequenom will pursue no further appeal opportunities for review of the '540 Patent.

"We are disappointed that the Supreme Court denied our petition and will not review the patent eligibility of the groundbreaking techniques embodied in the '540 Patent," said Dirk van den Boom, Ph.D., President and CEO of Sequenom.  "We believe that the Supreme Court missed an ideal opportunity to clarify patent eligibility criteria not only to protect the significant investments made by Sequenom but also by other innovative organizations to advance the standard of patient care and treatment.  We fear this decision will discourage such investments in the future."

As previously stated, as a practical matter, Sequenom believes that the ruling has little business impact as it has been operating under the District Court's invalidity ruling since October, 2013 and due to the pooling arrangement of NIPT intellectual property entered into with Illumina, Inc. in December, 2014.  In addition, valid and enforceable patents with claims equivalent to those of the '540 Patent are issued in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Canada and Australia. 

About Sequenom

Sequenom, Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM) is committed to enabling healthier lives through the development of innovative products and services. The Company serves patients and physicians by providing early patient management information.  To learn how Sequenom is interpreting the genome to improve your life, visit www.sequenom.com.

About Sequenom Laboratories

Sequenom Laboratories, a CAP-accredited and CLIA-certified molecular diagnostics laboratory, has developed a broad range of laboratory tests, with a focus principally on prenatal care. Branded under the names HerediT^®, HerediT^® UNIVERSAL, MaterniT^® GENOME, MaterniT^® 21 PLUS, NextView^®, SensiGene^® and VisibiliT^™, these molecular genetic laboratory-developed tests provide early patient management information for obstetricians, geneticists, and maternal fetal medicine specialists. Sequenom Laboratories is changing the landscape in genetic diagnostics using proprietary cutting edge technologies. Visit www.laboratories.sequenom.com and follow @SequenomLabs.

SEQUENOM^®, HerediT^®, MaterniT^®, NextView^®, SensiGene^®, VisibiliT^™ and Sequenom Laboratories^™ are trademarks of Sequenom, Inc. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements 

Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the development of innovative products and services and the expected impact of the Court's decision.  Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  Risks are described more fully in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents subsequently filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission.  All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made.  The Company undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.

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SOURCE Sequenom, Inc.

Related Links

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