MENLO PARK, Calif., March 22, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB), the leader in long-read, high-resolution sequencing, today announced that Judge Leonard P. Stark of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware denied a motion to dismiss filed on December 14, 2017 by Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd.

ONT had sought to dismiss Pacific Biosciences' complaint for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 9,738,929 by alleging that the patent's claims recite ineligible subject matter. A hearing on the matter was held on February 27, 2018 and the ruling by Judge Stark was issued on March 22, 2018. In its ruling, the Court disagreed with ONT's contentions and also took note of the inconsistent statements made by ONT in front of the U.S. International Trade Commission and in prosecuting ONT's own, later-filed patent applications.

"We are pleased with the Court's decision to deny ONT's motion to dismiss," said Dr. Michael W. Hunkapiller, Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Biosciences. "We believe that the patents we have asserted against ONT cover important inventions that ONT has misappropriated, and we look forward to the next phases in this litigation. As a pioneer and leader in the field, Pacific Biosciences has developed a broad intellectual property estate and we remain firm in our resolve to protect our leadership position in the field we have created."

This ruling follows a decision by Judge Richard G. Andrews last November denying a motion to dismiss filed by ONT in a companion case brought by Pacific Biosciences in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 9,546,400. A trial for these matters, along with Pacific Biosciences' complaint for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 9,678,056 (which ONT did not seek to dismiss), is scheduled to occur in early 2020.

Pacific Biosciences undertakes no obligation to revise or update information in this press release to reflect events or circumstances in the future, even if new information becomes available.

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