Illumina Inc, San Diego, has filed two patent infringement suits in Europe regarding the use of cell-free fetal DNA for noninvasive prenatal testing.

The first suit was filed in the United Kingdom against the Doctors Laboratory Ltd, London; TDL Genetics Ltd, London; and Ariosa Diagnostics Inc, San Jose, Calif. The suit alleges that the Harmony noninvasive prenatal test supplied by Ariosa and used by the Doctors Laboratory and TDL Genetics infringes Illumina’s European patent 0 994 963.

The second suit was filed against Centrum Bada? and Medgenetix in Warsaw, Poland. The suit alleges that use of the Iona noninvasive prenatal test supplied by Premaitha Health plc, Manchester, UK, by Centrum and Medgenetix infringes Illumina’s European patent 2 183 693.

Illumina is seeking all available remedies, including damages and injunctive relief.

The new lawsuits follow suits previously filed against Ariosa in the United States and against Premaitha in the United Kingdom.

For more information, visit Illumina.