Fluidigm Corporation, a Delaware Corporation v. Ionpath, Inc., a Delaware Corporation

INTRODUCTION

18 In this patent infringement suit, defendant moves to dismiss claims for intentional 19 interference with contractual relations, induced infringement, contributory infringement, and 20 enhanced damages for willfulness. Because the patent owner fails to plead essential elements of 21 each, the motion is GRANTED.

STATEMENT

23 Fluidigm Corporation and Fluidigm Canada Inc. (“patent owners”) market mass 24 cytometry methods and systems for analyzing the structures and biomarkers of cells. Their 25 methods involve labelling a sample, usually a cell or tissue suspension, with metal tags attached 26 to antibodies in a process called “staining.” Different antibodies bind to different cell targets, 27 and different metal tags attach to different antibodies. Following staining and washing, to remove unbound antibodies, only antibody-metal tags bound to present targets remain. To analyze the samples, the metal tags are released and ionized. A mass spectrometer measures the mass-to-charge ratio of the ions and, using the different weights of different metals, identifies the various metal tags released from the sample. And because the…