Tim McBride Quoted in Pharmacogenomics Reporter

Attorney Tim McBride is quoted in the article "Navigenics' Large-Scale Services Model, Not GeneChip Itself, at Issue in MIT/E8 Infringement Suit," in the May 27, 2009 issue of Pharmacogenomics Reporter. Mr. McBride comments on E8 Pharmaceuticals LLC v. Navigenics, Inc., regarding U.S. Patent #6,703,228 for "methods and products related to genotyping and DNA analysis." McBride discusses whether other companies using the method are also at risk of being sued: "The patent that's being sued on is a method, as opposed to the GeneChip itself. So, anybody that is practicing this method that MIT and E8 own a patent to is subject to suit." Yet he adds that "if there are others using this method, then MIT and E8 may not go after them because they might be small-scale laboratories, professors in labs trying to replicate the methodology to see if it works as claimed. And there is not a lot of value in going after someone like that." He says that the cost involved is a definite factor. "When it comes to a lawsuit, scale absolutely matters. A lawsuit is not cheap," he says, adding that a simple lawsuit on a patented technology can easily cost a minimum of $1 million.

Mr. McBride's work focuses primarily upon biotechnology and biochemical patent preparation and prosecution.