Oxford Nanopore is initiating legal proceedings against BGI over alleged contract breaches, potentially involving trade secret violations.
- The legal action is centered on claims that BGI has misused Oxford Nanopore’s technology to develop competing products.
- Oxford Nanopore has filed a court application in California to support future lawsuits in England and Wales.
- The biotech company’s shares have dropped by 2.8% following the announcement of the legal proceedings.
- This lawsuit could have significant implications for the use of nanopore-based sequencing technologies globally.
Oxford Nanopore Technologies, a company listed in London, has announced its plans to initiate a legal lawsuit against Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) over an alleged breach of contract. The legal action comes amidst concerns that BGI and its former subsidiary, MGI, may have used proprietary information from Oxford Nanopore for commercial purposes without authorisation.
The company has filed a court application in the Northern District of California for leave to serve subpoenas. This legal move is a precursor to a more substantial lawsuit that Oxford Nanopore intends to bring in the courts of England and Wales. The company seeks to assert claims for breach of contractual obligations, breach of common law obligations of confidence, breach under the Trade Secrets Regulations 2018, and entitlement to certain patent licences.
BGI, once a customer of Oxford Nanopore, is suspected of using insights gained from its partnership to develop its own nanopore-based sequencing platform. Oxford Nanopore believes that this development violates their previous contractual agreement, and may infringe upon the company’s significant portfolio of proprietary rights. The company has explicitly mentioned that BGI’s technology cannot be commercialised globally without infringing or misappropriating these rights.
Following the announcement of the intended lawsuit, Oxford Nanopore’s share price fell by 2.8%, reaching 140p. The company has refrained from commenting further on the potential litigation, maintaining a focus on protecting its intellectual property rights.
The outcome of this legal confrontation holds potential ramifications for the global biotechnology sector, specifically concerning the deployment and commercialisation of nanopore sequencing technologies. Both BGI and MGI have been approached for comments, although no responses have been recorded thus far.
The unfolding legal dispute between Oxford Nanopore and BGI underscores the complex challenges in safeguarding intellectual property in the biotech industry.
