USPTO and European Patent Office uphold validity of Aperio patents

VISTA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Aperio, the global leader in digital pathology solutions that improve patient care, today announced that the company has successfully defended key US and European patents covering line-scanning technology in digital pathology systems. These decisions uphold Aperio’s patent rights as the innovator of industry-leading technology in digital pathology.

With inventions and intellectual property that have contributed to the creation and growth of the digital pathology market, Aperio is the clear leader in digital pathology systems. The company has the broadest patent portfolio in the field, with more than 100 issued and pending patents worldwide, including a license to the Olympus/Bacus patents.

Facts surrounding Aperio’s recent patent victories include:

• In August, 2008 Aperio was granted European Patent Number 1317685 covering its digital slide scanner technology, which was challenged in May, 2009 by Hamamatsu Photonics KK. In June, 2011 the European Patent Office held a hearing and determined that Aperio’s patent claim to a digital slide scanner that uses a line scan camera with a focus map was valid.
• In March, 2004 Aperio was granted United States Patent Number 6,711,283 covering its digital slide scanner technology, which was challenged in November, 2009 by Hamamatsu Photonics KK. In March, 2011 the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) made a final determination that Aperio’s claim to a digital slide scanner that uses a line scan camera with a focus map to capture, compress and align digital image strips into a contiguous digital slide was valid.

“All leading digital pathology systems on the market today utilize line-scanning technology,” said Aperio CEO Dirk G. Soenksen. “Aperio invented the use of line-scanning for creating whole-slide images and has a rich portfolio of patents covering this technological breakthrough. The affirmation by both the US and European patent offices regarding the validity of our patents during contested proceedings significantly strengthens our patents, and we are delighted with the outcome. Aperio has invested considerable resources to create the most technologically advanced digital pathology systems available today, and we remain committed to defending our intellectual property.”

With more system installations than all other digital pathology vendors combined, Aperio is the global leader in digital pathology solutions. The company has an installed base of more than 850 systems in over 30 countries, including more than 550 systems in hospitals and reference laboratories. The company’s customers also include the 13 largest pharmaceutical companies as well as numerous biotechnology and government organizations.