Abbott Laboratories, Novartis, and Grifols have reached a settlement in their long-running legal battle over a patent involving a method for replicating DNA. The settlement comes just weeks before the case was set to go to trial, with a federal court in Illinois announcing the cancellation of the jury trial and pretrial conference scheduled for February 2025 and January 2025, respectively.

The dispute revolves around U.S. Patent No. 7,205,101, granted to Novartis in 2007, which Abbott contested in 2019 by alleging the patent's invalidity. Abbott argued that the patent covered only a conventional laboratory procedure known at the time, but U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis rejected this claim in 2020, maintaining that the patent was valid and describing it as covering a specific process for replicating HIV DNA.

Subsequently, Novartis and Grifols countered with their own suit, asserting that Abbott's HIV tests infringed on the patent. In 2023, Judge Ellis ruled that while some claims of the patent were invalid, two claims remained under scrutiny. A trial was set to determine the validity of these remaining claims in February.

Despite the ongoing litigation, the settlement puts an end to the legal fight, although the parties have not disclosed the terms of the agreement. Neither Abbott, Novartis, nor Grifols responded to requests for comment following the court's filing.

Abbott is represented by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, while Grifols and Novartis are represented by K&L Gates LLP and Morrison & Foerster LLP.

The case, Abbott Laboratories v. Grifols Diagnostic Solutions Inc. et al., is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.