All of GTG’s Core Non-Coding DNA Patent Claims Upheld in Full by US Patent and Trademark Office
Genetic Technologies Limited has received formal notification from the United States Patent and Trademarks Office (USPTO) that it has upheld, without amendment, all of the claims which formed the basis of the re-examination action (ASX announcement June 30th, 2009) of the Company’s core 5,612,179 (the “‘179”) non-coding deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) patent. All of the claims of the US ‘179 patent are valid, intact and enforceable
GTG presented significant evidence establishing to the satisfaction of three seasoned examiners the inventive nature of all challenged methods claimed in the ‘179 patent. “This is the best possible result for the Company,” said Dr. Paul MacLeman, Chief Executive Officer of GTG. “We were not expecting to hear back from the USPTO so soon. The USPTO’s blanket rejection of all of the arguments put forward by our challengers reinforces the strength of the patent.”
USPTO confirmation of all challenged claims unchanged occurs in only 26% of re-examination actions requested by a third party. In 61% of cases, claims are changed and, in 13% of cases, all claims are cancelled. In addition, such actions often take considerably longer to be resolved.
In addition to this success with the USPTO, the ‘179 patent has previously been challenged in both US and German courts. Both of these cases settled on terms favorable to Genetic Technologies, with no narrowing or alterations to the patents.
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