Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Contingencies

v3.19.2
Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Apr. 30, 2019
Loss Contingency [Abstract]  
Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 11 – Contingencies


There are three cases that are on appeal, which were originally brought by the Company in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (“the Court”), alleging patent infringement against various companies. In 2017, the Court entered summary judgment against the Company that the asserted claims of the ‘180 and ‘405 Patents are invalid for nonenablement in cases involving Abbott, Becton Dickinson, Gen-Probe, Hologic, and Roche. The Company appealed the Court’s final judgment of invalidity in those cases to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”), which were subsequently consolidated (“the Consolidated Appeals”). The Federal Circuit heard oral argument in the Consolidated Appeals on January 7, 2019, but it has not issued a ruling or opinion. In the Consolidated Appeals, the Company has asked the Federal Circuit to reverse the Court’s grants of final and summary judgment of invalidity of the asserted claims of the ‘180 and ‘405 patents and to remand the cases against Abbott, Becton Dickinson, and Roche to the Court. In April 2019, the Company entered into an agreement with Hologic and Grifols, resolving litigation resulting from four cases originally brought by the Company in the Court. As a result, Enzo dismissed (1) a stayed patent litigation regarding the ‘180 and ‘197 Patent against Hologic in the Court; (2) the Consolidated Appeals against Gen-Probe and Hologic resulting from two cases filed in the Court, and (3) the Company’s appeal in the Hologic III matter regarding the ‘581 Patent that involved both Hologic and Grifols; Hologic withdrew from Enzo’s Federal Circuit appeal of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s adverse rulings in two inter partes review proceedings regarding the ‘197 Patent filed by Hologic (“the ‘197 PTAB Appeals”). Of the original cases filed in the Court, the Abbott, Becton Dickinson, and Roche cases remain on appeal to the Federal Circuit. The ‘197 PTAB Appeals remain pending and are scheduled for argument on July 9, 2019.


Enzo Biochem, Inc. (the “Company”), along with its subsidiaries Enzo Life Sciences, Inc. entered into a Settlement Agreement as of February 5,2019 (the “Agreement) with Roche Diagnostics GmbH and Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. (together, “Roche”) with respect to an action between the Company and Roche before the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, Case No 04-CV4046. Roche agreed to pay the Company $21 million in settlement pursuant to the Agreement. The Company received $19.4 million net of attorney contingency payments. This settlement does not affect Enzo’s civil action for patent infringement against Roche in the U.S. District Court for the State of Delaware, Enzo Life Sciences Inc. v. Roche Molecular Systems Inc., et al., civil action No. 12 cv-00106, which remains pending on appeal.


Enzo Biochem, Inc. (the “Company”), along with its subsidiaries Enzo Life Sciences, Inc. entered into a settlement and license agreement as of April 16, 2019 (the “Agreement”) with Hologic, Inc. (“Hologic”), Grifols, S.A., and Grifols Diagnostic Solutions Inc. (together, “Grifols”) to settle all outstanding patent disputes among the parties. The terms of the agreement include one-time payments totaling $14 million to Enzo in exchange for fully paid-up, worldwide licenses to Hologic and Grifols. The Company received $9.5 million net of attorney contingency payments.


There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in these litigations. Even if the Company is not successful, management does not believe that there will be a significant adverse monetary impact on the Company.


The Company is party to other claims, legal actions, complaints, and contractual disputes that arise in the ordinary course of business. The Company believes that any liability that may ultimately result from the resolution of these matters will not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on its financial position or results of operations.


As described in Note 3, third-party payers, including government programs, may decide to deny payment or recoup payments for testing that they contend was improperly billed or not medically necessary, against their coverage determinations, or for which they believe they have otherwise overpaid (including as a result of their own error), and we may be required to refund payments already received. During the third fiscal quarter of 2019, a significant third-party payer informed us outside of their typical business practice that they believe it overpaid the Company during certain periods of fiscal 2018. The Company disputes these claims and has formally sent legal appeal letters to the payer. At this time, the Company is unable to determine the probability of the outcome of these appeals or reasonably estimate a range of potential losses associated with this claim.