BGI Must Pay Illumina $8 Million in Gene-Sequencing Patent Spat

China-based BGI Genomics must pay Illumina Inc. $8 million for infringing gene-sequencing patents, a federal jury in California said.

The jury also held Tuesday that the infringement by BGI and its Complete Genomics instruments-manufacturing unit from early 2014 through 2020 was intentional -- a finding that would enable the judge to potentially increase the damage award by as much as threefold.

San Diego, California-based Illumina had accused BGI and Complete Genomics of “brazen infringement” of its genetic-sequencing machines that “have been the engine for the biotech revolution.” BGI sought a verdict that the patents are invalid or unenforceable.

The jury ...