Oxford Nanopore prevails in patent ruling against Pacific Biosciences

Today the European Patent Office revoked Pacific Biosciences patent EP3045542 with claims to a single molecule sequencing process wherein two strands of DNA are linked by a connecting nucleic acid. The validity of the patent had been challenged by Oxford Nanopore.

The EPO ruled that the claims to a single molecule sequencing process were unsupported in the application and that the application only supported a template-directed synthesis sequencing method. As Pacific Biosciences were unwilling to accept this change, the patent was revoked.

The decision by the EPO is consistent with a recent decision by the International Trade Commission (ITC) to limit the claims of a related Pacific Biosciences US patent to template-directed synthesis.