Becton Dickinson & Co. (NYSE:BDX) said it’s settled a patent infringement lawsuit against Hologic‘s (NSDQ:HOLX) Gen-Probe subsidiary, a month after a federal judge ruled that BD violates a trio of the Gen-Probe patents.
Gen-Probe sued BD in 2009, alleging that BD’s Viper XTR and BDMax diagnostics infringe a clutch of its patents covering automated nucleic acid testing. Hologic inherited the lawsuit when it bought Gen-Probe for $3.7 billion earlier this year.
In early October Judge Roger Benitez of the U.S. District Court for Southern California ruled that the use of BD’s ProbeTec Qx CT/GC assays for detecting chlamydia and gonorrhea on the BD Viper XTR violates 3 of the patents. Benitez also ruled that the use of BD’s GBS assays on BD’s Max System infringes the patent trio, but that BD does not infringe 2 other patents.
Today BD said it agreed to an up-front payment and ongoing royalties in exchange for a license from Gen-Probe to "make, use and sell products accused of infringing Gen-Probe patents," according to a regulatory filing. Benitez agreed to dismiss the case without prejudice pending finalization of the settlement, according to court documents.
That means a jury trial slated for Dec. 4 to decide damages is off.
Hologic closed its $82.75-per-share buyout of Gen-Probe in early August, putting it in the top tier of the diagnostics space, outside of its traditional market, women’s health.