Strategic Patent Management

Originally Published September 1999

REGULATIONS & LEGAL AFFAIRS

Gale Holland

This May, DuPont Pharmaceuticals (Wilmington, DE) filed suit against Molecular Biosystems Inc. (MBI; San Diego) and its manufacturing partner, Mallinckrodt Inc. (St. Louis), over control of one of the most promising new innovations in medical ultrasound imaging. The suit claimed that MBI was infringing a patent that the chemical giant had licensed from ImaRx Pharmaceutical Corp. (Tucson, AZ) for contrast agents, gas-filled microbubbles that greatly enhance ultrasound readings. "Our goal in this action is to protect our intellectual property rights...and defend our substantial investment in this area," said Bill DeLorbe, executive vice president of DuPont Pharmaceuticals's medical imaging division.