Controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
Back to profile6 entries
2022
Illumina files trade-secrets lawsuit against Guardant Health
Lawsuit filed
Illumina filed a lawsuit against Guardant Health, alleging that Guardant's co-founders took confidential Illumina documents and that patents central to Guardant's cancer-detection work relied on that information. Guardant disputed Illumina's claims and said they had no merit.
Source excerpt
Guardant has a sharply different version of events, arguing that Illumina’s claims have no merit
San Diego-based Illumina filed a lawsuit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in which it says that Guardant’s co-founders, who are former Illumina employees, siphoned off tens of thousands of Illumina documents while creating their company.
The San Diego company wants the patents that Guardant filed turned over to them.
2021
FTC sues to block Illumina’s acquisition of Grail
Lawsuit filed
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit seeking to block Illumina’s acquisition of Grail. The FTC said the acquisition could hinder innovation in multi-cancer detection; this is the regulator’s stated concern, not a court determination.
Source excerpt
FTC认为，这项收购交易可能会阻碍基因检测领域多种癌症检测技术的创新。
美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）周二表示，将寻求阻止该交易的达成。
FTC已经对这项收购提起诉讼
2020
Regulatory dispute over GRAIL acquisition
Illumina’s proposed reacquisition of GRAIL prompted regulatory scrutiny in the United States and Europe. Authorities raised concerns that Illumina could restrict or disadvantage rival cancer-test developers that depended on its sequencing technology. Illumina later completed the divestiture of GRAIL in 2024.
2020
BGI questions fairness of gene-sequencer tender
Issue disclosure
BGI Manufacturing, an unsuccessful bidder, publicly questioned the tender process, alleging that the short timetable and specifications were tailored to Illumina equipment and exclusionary. The report also said the purchase funds might have come from a Tesla donation and noted that the winning equipment was an Illumina product; it described questions about the donation's purpose as allegations.
Source excerpt
参与投标但失利的深圳企业华大智造在其官网公开发文，质疑此次招标程序不正义：在短时间内完成所有招投标流程，是为美国企业illumina的设备量身定做的招标文件，具有明确的排他性。
值得注意的是，采购单位用于此次招标的500万元货款资金，疑似来自特斯拉此前的定向捐赠，而中标设备则是与其存在股东关联的美国企业illumina的产品。这也引发关于捐赠真实目的是利用中国政府机构宣传采购设备的质疑。
2020
Illumina files patent suits in the UK and Sweden
Lawsuit filed
Illumina announced that it had filed two patent infringement suits relating to BGI sequencing products: one against MGI Tech Co., Ltd. and Latvia MGI Tech SIA in the United Kingdom, and another against Latvia MGI Tech SIA in Sweden. The complaints allege infringement of Illumina patents.
Source excerpt
The first complaint was filed against MGI Tech Co., Ltd. and Latvia MGI Tech SIA in the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, Patents Court in the United Kingdom alleging infringement of four patents: EP 1 530 578 B1, EP 1 828 412 B2, EP 2 021 415 B1, and EP 3 002 289 B1. The second complaint was filed against Latvia MGI Tech SIA in the Patent and Market Court in Sweden alleging infringement of EP 3 002 289 B1.
The patents cover Illumina's proprietary sequencing-by-synthesis chemistry.
Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) today announced that it has filed two additional patent infringement suits relating to BGI's sequencing products, including the DNBSeq-400 (also known as MGISeq-2000), DNBSeq-T7, and related chemistry reagents.
2019
Complete Genomics files patent infringement counterclaim against Illumina
Lawsuit filed
Complete Genomics, a U.S. affiliate of MGI, filed a patent infringement counterclaim against Illumina. The counterclaim alleged that Illumina and its customers used gene sequencers and related reagents that infringed a Complete Genomics patent covering Patterned Array technology. Complete Genomics sought damages and an injunction.
Source excerpt
Complete Genomics seeks damages and an injunction, which would require Illumina to stop selling the infringing products and provide infringement compensation.
Complete Genomics, a U.S. affiliate of MGI, has filed a patent infringement counterclaim against Illumina in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The lawsuit, filed September 30, alleges that Illumina and its customers are using various gene sequencers and related reagents, including NovaSeq 6000, HiSeq X Ten, HiSeq 3000, and HiSeq 4000, that infringe Complete Genomics' U.S. Patent No. 9,944,984 ("984 patent").