Regents of the Univ. of California v. Dakocytomation California
The Regents of the University of California and Abbott Molecular Inc. and Abbott Laboratories Inc. (collectively referred to as “appellants”) appeal from two decisions of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Appellants first appeal the district court’s denial of their motion for a preliminary injunction enjoining Dako A/S and Dako North American, Inc. (“Dako”) from manufacturing and selling its HER2 FISH pharmDXTM kit (“HER2 kit”), which appellants allege infringe the patents in suit, viz., U.S. Patents 5,447,841 (“the ’841 patent”) and 6,596,479 (“the ’479 patent”). Appellants also filed an interlocutory appeal from the district court’s decision granting in part summary judgment of noninfringement of these patents. Because we conclude that the district court correctly construed the term “heterogeneous mixture of labeled unique sequence nucleic acid fragments,” erred in its construction of “morphologically identifiable cell nucleus,” and erred by concluding that appellants were barred by the doctrine of prosecution history estoppel, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.
