Alamar Biosciences v. Difco
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Alamar files lawsuit Nov. 14 in U.S. District Court in Sacramento against Difco Laboratories. The suit seeks more than $25 mil. in compensatory damages based on claims that Difco personnel "misappropriated" Alamar's proprietary redox fluorescence technology, which is "used in determining bacterial susceptibility," while under a 1988 "confidentiality and non-use agreement." Alamar also says it "recently learned that Difco has obtained a patent on technology based" on Alamar's redox system. In addition to compensatory damages, Alamar requests an injunction to prevent Difco from using the technology, a transfer of the Difco patent to Alamar, and punitive damages. Alamar also reports that it will not accept $2.5 mil. raised in a recent financing ("The Gray Sheet" Oct. 10, p. 21) and will "immediately" lay off 17 of its 33 employees "in order to conserve resources" for the legal action