Sidley successfully defended Illumina, Inc. against a lawsuit brought by Dr. Monib Zirvi, who claimed to have invented certain technology in Illumina patents. In 2023, Zirvi sued Illumina alleging (1) a correction of inventorship claim seeking to be added as an inventor on 52 Illumina patents, and (2) a conspiracy claim rooted in fraud. On April 26, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed the complaint in full, with prejudice, in an opinion expressly agreeing with nearly every argument raised in Sidley’s briefing. In its ruling, the Court agreed that the claims were barred by res judicata, that the inventorship claim was barred by laches (marking only the second time that a court has so ruled on a motion to dismiss), and found that plaintiff had failed to state a claim on the merits for several additional reasons. The Court will separately hold a conference on Illumina’s motion for sanctions, which seeks an award of its attorneys’ fees expected to put a conclusive stop to plaintiff’s serial frivolous litigation.
The team includes Jim Badke (New York), Ching-Lee Fukuda (New York), Josh Fougere (Washington, D.C.), Adam Kleven (Washington, D.C.), and Morgan Mendicino (Dallas).
