GeoMx Decision is Third Ruling Against NanoString, Showing Serial Infringement of 10x Patents

10x Genomics, Inc. (Nasdaq: TXG), a leader in single cell and spatial biology, announced today that a jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware has reached a unanimous verdict in favor of 10x Genomics in the patent infringement suit 10x filed against the GeoMx products sold by NanoString Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: NSTG). In awarding over $31 million in damages, the jury found that NanoString's GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler and associated instruments, reagents and services for RNA and protein detection willfully infringe all seven asserted patents owned by Prognosys and exclusively licensed to 10x Genomics.

The jury awarded over $31 million in damages for sales of the infringing GeoMx products from May 6, 2021 through October 13, 2023. In post-trial proceedings, 10x intends to seek (a) ongoing royalties for NanoString's willful infringement by sales of the GeoMx products after October 13, 2023; (b) treble damages and attorney's fees for NanoString's willful infringement; (c) a permanent injunction barring the making, using, selling and offering for sale the GeoMx products in the United States; and (d) pre- and post-judgment interest. 

"In the last six months, three separate courts have found that both NanoString's CosMx and GeoMx products infringe nine separate 10x patents," said Eric Whitaker, Chief Legal Officer at 10x Genomics. "At some point, NanoString must drop the charade that it is 'confident' it does not infringe the 10x patents and the patents are invalid. It is essential that 10x protect our patents from those who wrongly and willfully use them so we can advance our mission and continue to innovate and push science forward. We are thankful for the jury's careful attention to the extensive evidence presented in this case and their diligence in recognizing 10x's decade-long investment in innovation."

The jury heard testimony from the sole inventor of the patents, Illumina co-founder Mark Chee, and NanoString CEO Brad Gray and NanoString CSO Joe Beechem. After hearing all of the evidence, the jury confirmed that all seven of 10x's asserted patents had been infringed by NanoString, that each of 10x's seven patents was valid, that NanoString willfully infringed those patents and that monetary damages were owed to 10x for the infringement of all seven patents. For a patent to be willfully infringed, the jury had to find that NanoString acted in reckless disregard of 10x's rights, supported by evidence that NanoString acted maliciously, deliberately or in bad faith.

The asserted patents in Case No. 21-cv-653-MFK include (a) U.S. Patent No. 10,472,669; (b) U.S. Patent No. 10,961,566; (c) U.S. Patent No. 10,983,113; (d) U.S. Patent No. 10,996,219; (e) U.S. Patent No. 11,001,878; (f) U.S. Patent No. 11,008,607 and (g) U.S. Patent No. 11,293,917.

This ruling is the third time that NanoString has been found to infringe 10x patents in the past six months. Earlier this year, the European Unified Patent Court (the "UPC") and the Munich Regional Court each ruled that NanoString is infringing 10x Genomics patents and issued injunctions on NanoString's infringing CosMx Spatial Molecular Imager instruments as well as CosMx reagents for RNA detection.

Related Litigation
10x has a separate suit pending against NanoString in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware alleging that NanoString's CosMx Spatial Molecular Imager and associated instruments, reagents and services infringe multiple patents. The patents asserted in the second U.S. suit against NanoString include (a) U.S. Patent No. 10,227,639; (b) U.S. Patent No. 11,021,737; (c) U.S. Patent No. 11,293,051; (d) U.S. Patent No. 11,293,052; (e) U.S. Patent No. 11,293,054 and (f) U.S. Patent No. 11,542,554. Trial is scheduled for September 2024.