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A California federal judge ruled that Leica Microsystems Inc. did not infringe a patent held by the University of Michigan, which pertains to a new method for measuring fluorescence in microscopy.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick granted summary judgment to Leica, siding with the company on the interpretation of key claim language in U.S. Patent No. 7,277,169. Judge Orrick concluded that Leica’s Stellaris and SP8 microscope models, which were accused of infringement, did not include the term "said supercontinuum," a critical element of the patent's claim.

Judge Orrick stated that "no reasonable jury could find that the accused products infringe on the '169 patent" because the accused microscopes did not meet the specific language of the claim related to the supercontinuum.

Leica had previously sought to challenge the patent’s validity before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), but the board denied the company's request to invalidate the claims. Following a lawsuit filed by the University of Michigan in 2019, Leica appealed the PTAB's decision to the Federal Circuit, which upheld the PTAB’s findings, stating that there was "substantial evidence" supporting the board's ruling.

The University of Michigan's lawsuit accused Leica of infringing the patent, which covers a significant advancement in fluorescence confocal microscopy. The patent specifically relates to using a single white light laser to measure fluorescence in molecules, a method the University of Michigan claims is critical to the field.

Counsel for both parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.

The patent at issue is U.S. Patent No. 7,277,169.

The University of Michigan is represented by attorneys from Kramer Alberti Lim & Tonkovich LLP, while Leica is represented by lawyers from Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP.

The case is The Regents of the University of Michigan v. Leica Microsystems Inc., case number 3:19-cv-07470, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.