The patent was licensed by Princeton to Chiron Corp, who subsequently licensed it to Bayer HealthCare. Princeton had conceded priority to Enzo over the patent.
Another interference involving the same technology was declared at the same time but is still pending.
“We believe this development further clarifies the historic account of which party first invented nucleic acid signal amplification technology,” said Dr Elazar Rabbani, Enzo's chairman & CEO.
Enzo said this nucleic acid technology is the basis for several significant products in clinical diagnostics and in the life sciences field which are currently marketed or licensed by various commercial companies
An interference is a proceeding instituted when an issued patent and an allowed patent application claim essentially the same invention.