By Memorandum Order entered by The Honorable Richard G. Andrews in Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. v. 10X Genomics, Inc., Civil Action No. 18-1679-RGA (D.Del. April 8, 2019), the Court denied Defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The patents in-suit, U.S. Patent Nos. 9,562,837 (“the ‘837 patent”) and 9,896,722 (“the ‘722 patent”), claim technology related to handling samples in a way that reduces sample contamination and sample loss. Id. at *1. In its motion, Defendant asserted that the patents in-suit “are directed to ‘the natural phenomenon of allowing two different liquids of different densities to separate from each other.’” Id. at *5. Plaintiff responded that the patents are not that simple. Rather, the “the patents are directed to the patent-eligible result of a method and apparatus to reduce sample contamination when handling samples.” Id. The Court agreed with Plaintiff and denied the motion to dismiss. Id. at *5-7.
A copy of the Memorandum Order is attached.