QIAGEN and Idaho Technology Settle Patent Dispute

VENLO, NETHERLANDS AND SALT LAKE CITY, UT - QIAGEN N.V. and Idaho Technology Inc. announced that the companies have reached a settlement agreement for rights to a suite of Intellectual Property (IP) relating to Corbett's Rotor-Gene instruments.

According to a press release by QIAGEN, this settlement preceded QIAGEN's acquisition of Corbett Life Science Pty. Ltd. announced on July 1, 2008. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The agreement covers Idaho Technology's patents surrounding rapid polymerase chain reaction methods and instrumentation, the use of SYBR Green I in PCR reactions, melting curve analysis (rights obtained through Roche Diagnostics GmbH), analysis methods of DNA melting data, specifically high resolution melting (HRM) and others.

The parties further agreed to jointly file a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice with the District Court in Salt Lake City to end the pending legal proceedings.

This settlement follows Idaho Technology's January 2007 settlement with Cepheid involving similar IP and extends Idaho Technology's program to protect their broad and valuable IP portfolio.

"We are pleased with this settlement which was a condition for our transaction with Corbett and which provides customers of Corbett cyclers and QIAGEN the key freedom to operate elements required to develop, market and operate performance leading real-time PCR detection technologies based on Corbett's innovative Rotor-Gene solutions," QIAGEN's CEO Peer Schatz said.

"Idaho Technology is a company built on innovation; we are pleased to have reached a settlement with QIAGEN/Corbett and we look forward to working with QIAGEN,” Idaho Technology Inc. President Randy Rasmussen noted.

“Protecting our Intellectual Property will continue to be exceedingly important to our business," he concluded.

QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands holding company, is the leading provider of sample and assay technologies. Sample technologies are used to isolate and process DNA, RNA, and proteins from biological samples such as blood or tissue.

Idaho Technology Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Founded in 1990, Idaho Technology licensed the rapid PCR technology from the University of Utah.