IDEXX and Millipore Settle Patent Dispute

Millipore Corporation (Bedford, Mass.) and IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (Westbrook, Maine) have reached agreement on the settlement of two patent infringement lawsuits brought by IDEXX and other parties against Millipore. The patents relate to certain media-based technology for detection of E.coli and other bacteria in water and food.

Under the settlement agreement, Millipore has acknowledged validity of U.S. Patent Nos. 4,925,789 and 5,429,933, and has agreed not to sell media-based products that were the subject of this litigation. Millipore's Colisure business will be transferred to IDEXX. Settlement of the lawsuits is subject to certain conditions including completion by IDEXX of a review of the business.

William Emhiser, General Manager of Millipore's Applied Microbiology Products, noted: "Colisure is a very small part of our overall microbiology business. We market hundreds of membrane-based products for testing beverages, water and pharmaceuticals for microbial contamination. This settlement allows us to focus on these membrane-based products, and on our new line of rapid microbiology products and instruments."

Millipore is a multinational, high technology company that applies its purification technology to critical research and manufacturing problems in the microelectronics, biopharmaceutical and analytical laboratory markets.