Elysium had been accused on infringing on the two patents – U.S. Patent No. 8,383,086 and U.S. Patent No. 8,197,807. However, Judge Connolly granted Elysium’s motion for summary judgement, stating that the patents in question were invalid because nicotinamide riboside, a form of vitamin B3, is a naturally-occurring vitamin, and therefore patent ineligible (Alice Corp. Pty. v. CLS Bank Int ‘l, 573 U.S. 208, 216 (2014)).
Judge Connolly also canceled the jury trial scheduled to start Sept. 27.
In a press release, Eric Marcotulli, CEO of Elysium Health, said: “After three years of litigation, we are gratified that the court vindicated our position and concluded that the Dartmouth patents licensed by ChromaDex are invalid, as we have contended all along.
“Elysium Health takes intellectual property rights very seriously and respects the intellectual property rights of others. In this case, however, the clear invalidity of the asserted patents and the promise of BASIS, which contains both nicotinamide riboside and pterostilbene, led us to conclude that fighting this litigation was warranted and worth the investment.”
ChromaDex to appeal
In response to the court’s ruling, ChromaDex said it planned to appeal.
“ChromaDex announced today [Sept 15] plans to appeal a September 14 decision granting a Motion for Summary Judgment in its lawsuit for patent infringement against Elysium Health, Inc. in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware,” read a statement from the company.
“ChromaDex licenses U.S. Patent No. 8,383,086 (“the ’086 patent”) and U.S. Patent No. 8,197,807 (“the ’807 patent”) from the Trustees of Dartmouth College, which give ChromaDex exclusive rights to the leading NAD precursor nicotinamide riboside (NR).”