HIV test maker Inverness Medical Innovations has filed a lawsuit against rapid-HIV-test maker OraSure Technologies, alleging patent infringement in the manufacturing and selling of OraSure’s product, reports the Allentown, Pennsylvania, newspaper The Morning Call (mcall.com, 4/18).
In 2002, OraSure’s well-known OraQuick test became the first rapid HIV test to be approved by the U.S. government. The test can detect HIV in both saliva and blood in less than 20 minutes.
The patent under debate involves OraQuick’s testing technology. According to The Morning Call, OraSure argues that it got the technology from pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories, and that it is not breaking any Inverness patents.
“[OraSure] believes that the asserted patent is invalid and intends to defend this lawsuit vigorously,” OraSure said in a press release.
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patrick, nashville, 2008-04-22 10:13:27
the test does NOT purport to detect HIV. it also does not detect what it actually looks for in saliva. innaccurate writing such as this promotes damaging myth development - in this case, the general public could easily conclude that saliva contains HIV- it does not.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I think that it's OK to be angry. I am sometimes—it's natural—we are HIV positive. but I always try to not let myself stay there too long. Let yourself feel you are human. You should not beat yourself up about being angry."
