A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

Aperio Technologies (Vista, California), a provider in digital pathology for the healthcare and life sciences industry, reported that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted it patent No. 7,116,440 covering systems and methods for image pattern recognition using vector quantization.

The image pattern recognition technology covered by Aperio’s patent is based on the application of vector quantization, a technique commonly used for the compression of data streams, according to the company.

A key challenge in pathology is the difficulty of examining an entire tissue specimen with manual microscopy at high resolution to find rare events or to exhaustively identify significant regions of a biopsy slide, Aperio said. An important benefit of digital pathology is that tissue specimens that are scanned to create digital slide images can be interrogated by computer software at full resolution, including for image pattern recognition.

“We believe that computer-based image pattern recognition, also referred to as CAD [computer aided detection] in related fields like radiology, will become increasingly important in digital pathology,” said Dirk Soenksen, CEO of Aperio. “The image pattern recognition technology covered by this patent is unique in that it does not rely on prior knowledge of image based features, but rather involves statistical comparisons to imagery data that exhibit characteristics of interest. Our results to date are quite encouraging.”

In addition to providing an efficient way to find regions of a digital slide that are similar to previously characterized imagery data, vector quantization also allows searching for exceptions; regions of digital slides which are different from previously characterized images, Aperio noted.

Aperio’s patent portfolio includes more than 30 issued, licensed or pending patents covering the creation, viewing, analysis and management of digital slides.

In other patent news:

• Enzo Biochem (New York) reported that it has filed an appeal of a summary judgment motion, in favor of Applera (Norwalk, Connecticut), by the U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut. Enzo seeks recovery from defendants for past infringement of what it calls “three pioneering patents,” all of which expired in 2004.

“We have reviewed the District Court’s decision and respectfully believe that the court, among other things, improperly resolved issues of fact that we are confident Enzo would have prevailed upon at trial,” said Scott Robertson, Enzo’s lead counsel. “Enzo has filed an appeal with the Federal Circuit seeking to reverse this ruling and intends to vigorously pursue its claims against defendants. We have every belief that the Federal Circuit will overturn this decision, and that Enzo will ultimately prevail.”

The patents at issue are based on the work of David Ward, PhD, at Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut).

Barry Weiner, president of Enzo, said that the ruling “relates solely to three expired patents, and that it is unrelated to Enzo’s ongoing operating business. Nor is it related to other ongoing litigation which we continue to prosecute. While disappointing, we believe that the ruling is not reflective of the facts in the case and it certainly does not impact our intellectual property portfolio of more than 200 patents.”

Enzo Biochem and Applera have been in the courts disputing patent issues for nearly three years now.

In 2006 Enzo reported that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied permission for an immediate interlocutory appeal, thereby allowing Enzo’s patent infringement lawsuit in Connecticut Federal District Court to go forward against Applera. The suit was originally filed in 2004.

• Grant Life Sciences(Los Angeles) reported receiving notice from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that Patent No. 7,267,961 — “peptides from the E7 protein of human papilloma viruses 16 and 18 for detecting and or diagnosing cervical and other Human papilloma virus associated cancers”— will issue today.

“Of course we are extremely pleased by the issuance of this patent, which is an important part of a comprehensive IP portfolio focusing on HPV detection and diagnostic technologies, including domestic patents, international patents and patent applications, that Grant Life Sciences is overseeing,” said Hun-Chi Lin, PhD, Grant’s president and chief scientist.

“No doubt, this is a very significant development for Grant Life Sciences,” Lin said. “This patent would protect our investment to date in the development of our serum-based test for cervical cancer and allows us to move forward confidently in seeking an appropriate development-and-commercialization partner.”

Grant engaged in the R&D of diagnostic kits for the screening, monitoring, and diagnosis of diseases with emphasis on women’s health, infectious diseases, and cancers.