• February 29, 2008

Church & Dwight has won a judgment in a patent infringement action against Abbott Laboratories in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

The case involved pregnancy tests marketed by Abbott Laboratories under its Fact Plus trademark. The patents cover the familiar type of pregnancy tests that are sold over the counter at supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers.

Church & Dwight asserted that Abbott had infringed three of its patents through the sale of Fact Plus pregnancy tests during the period from April 1999 through the end of September 2003.

A unanimous jury upheld the validity of all of the asserted claims of the patents and found that Abbott had willfully infringed each of those claims. The jury awarded damages in the amount of $14.6 million. The verdict is subject to various post-trial motions and Abbott's right of appeal.

--Nina M. Lentini