U.S. court upholds ruling against Abbott

According to the Associated Press, Belgian biotechnology company Innogenetics NV recently said that a U.S. district court upheld a $7 million damages ruling against Abbott Laboratories for infringing one of its patents. The judge upheld a jury''s finding that Abbott infringed an Innogenetics patent for Hepatitis C genotyping, the company said in a statement. The court found Abbott did not willfully infringe on Innogenetics'' patent, a decision that could have tripled the damages awarded to the Belgian company. Still, a spokesman for the North Chicago, Ill.-based company said it plans to appeal. Litigation began in September 2005 when Innogenetics sued Abbott Laboratories, alleging that Abbott was infringing the company''s U.S. patent covering a method of genotyping the Hepatitis C virus. Genotyping involves studying disease-associated genes.