University of Michigan Holds Onto Microscope System Patent Win

The Federal Circuit dealt a blow to a Danaher Corp. unit sued over microscope technology, finding that Leica Microsystems Inc. failed to show that a University of Michigan patent involving a fluorescence detection system was an obvious invention.

A panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Monday upheld a Patent Trial and Appeals Board decision last year against Leica, which had challenged claims in US Patent No. 7,277,169.

The patent relates to technology that involves researchers using fluorescent labels to tag certain molecules within a given sample. It’s at the heart of the university’s 2019 ...