Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. (NSDQ:PACB) won a favorable decision from the U.S. Patent Office over a competitor.

The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company began a "patent interference" process against Life Technologies Corp. (NSDQ:LIFE) in March 2009 regarding patent claims by both companies on single-molecule sequencing technology.

The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences held that all of the Life Technologies claims involved in the interference are un-patentable, according to Pacific Biosciences.

The board had already granted Pacific Biosciences so-called "Senior Party" status in the proceedings because a company it acquired had filed an application for the patent in question 20 months before Life Technologies’ application was filed.

An interference, in this particular case, is the process by which the patent office "determines which party is entitled to a patent when a patent and a patent application are claiming the same invention," according to Pacific Biosciences (PDF). The appeals board bases its interference decisions upon which party was first to invent or, in some cases, put the claimed invention to use.

The board also determined that neither company is entitled to the broadest claims presented in proceedings, but denied Life Technologies’ request that a subset of Pacific Biosciences’ claims be found un-patentable, according to Pacific Biosciences.

PACB stock traded up just over 2 percent for the day, increasing from $15.80 to $16.13 per share.

A call and email to Life Technologies were not immediately returned.