University of Michigan Microscope System Patent Upheld by PTAB

Danaher Corp. unit Leica Microsystems Inc. lost a challenge to a University of Michigan patent covering a fluorescence detection system, with an administrative tribunal rejecting arguments the patent covers an obvious invention.

Leica asked the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to review U.S. Patent No. 7,277,169 after it was sued in 2019. The University of Michigan has alleged certain Leica white light laser microscope systems, used in biological and medical research, infringe the patent.

Leica argued the patented invention would have been obvious based on a combination of earlier inventions and scientific articles. The PTAB, however, said in a Friday ...