Applera and Beckman Coulter Announce Terms of Settlement of Legal Disputes regarding PCR technology
Applera Corporation and Beckman Coulter, Inc. jointly announced that they have established the terms of a settlement to resolve all outstanding legal disputes between the parties regarding claims to certain Beckman Coulter patented capillary electrophoresis technology and PCR instrumentation technology and Applera's allegations of breach of contract of certain licensed technology.
As part of the settlement, the parties will grant royalty-bearing licenses to each other. Beckman Coulter will grant Applera licenses to its patents for replaceable gels for capillary electrophoresis instruments and DNA sequencers and to its patent for a heated lid for thermal cyclers; Applera will grant Beckman Coulter licenses conferring rights in the diagnostics market to its patents for nucleic acid sequencing and real time PCR thermalcycling. Additionally, Applera's Applied Biosystems Group will make a $35 million special payment to Beckman Coulter on signing for release of any and all claims of infringement relating to DNA sequencer and thermal cycler products. Beckman Coulter will make a $20 million payment over 10 quarters to Applera's Celera Genomics Group for rights in the diagnostics market to the referenced Applera technology. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has said it will stay its proceedings for 90 days pending completion of definitive agreements based on these terms.
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