Labrador Diagnostic LLC. is a non-operating subsidiary owned by Fortress that was incorporated on March 6th, 2020. Fortress is an American investment conglomerate known to operate under a "loan-to-own" strategy. In December 2016, Fortress acquired the entire IP portfolio from Theranos (a biotech startup) as part of a $100 million dollar loan to keep Theranos afloat.
Theranos had been the subject of numerous SEC investigations, and founder Elizabeth Holmes was indicted in June 2018 for numerous counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Her trial is set for August 2020. Theranos (now defunct) has continued to apply for patents which are then assigned to Labrador Diagnostics. Elizabeth Holmes continues to be listed as a primary inventor.
Using the acquired IP from Theranos, Labrador Diagnostics filed a lawsuit on March 9th, 2020 (just 3 days after incorporating) against BioFire Diagnostics, claiming that BioFire had infringed on Labrador's acquired IP. Specifically, Labrador targeted three SARS-CoV-2 tests BioFire had created for rapid COVID-19 testing. Shortly after, due to a large amount of public push back, Labrador released a statement saying they would provide free licences to BioFire and other medical testing corporations to create emergency testing kits to meet the demand created by the pandemic. However, Labrador has yet to back down and withdraw any of its lawsuits.
This will certainly be an interesting story to follow, especially since it raises questions about how to deal with non-practicing entities, and the treatment intellectual property during times of global crisis. Interestingly, many major corporations including Amazon, Facebook, Intel, and IBM have all entered into a pledge to license any of their intellectual property related to COVID-19 testing and treatment. Only time will tell if Labrador follows suit.
