U.S. Solicitor General Intervenes Against Johnson & Johnson in DECN’s Long Running Patent Battle Over GenStrip 50

LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwired – Apr 14, 2015) – Decision Diagnostics Corp. (OTC PINK: DECN), the manufacturer, quality plan administrator and the exclusive worldwide sales, service and regulatory processes agent for the popular GenStrip™ 50, the FDA cleared Green Alternative Strip, specifically designed to work with the market leading Johnson & Johnson’s LifeScan OneTouch Ultra family of glucose testing meters, the most popular meter worldwide for diabetic use, announced today that the United States government through its Solicitor General has intervened in the recent appeal filed by J&J/Lifescan in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the patent appeals court).

Having received successive unfavorable legal patent decisions concerning its ‘105 patent, Johnson & Johnson recently filed their final appeal in an attempt to maintain exclusivity over the blood glucose test market. Prior appellate court rulings have consistently affirmed that Pharma Tech’s GenStrip legally and justifiably entered the market to compete with the Lifescan franchise. Those rulings have been specific in their opinion and narrowly precise in the interpretation of the law. The clarity and comprehensiveness of the recent USPTO decision effectively neutralized a cogent legal basis for appeal. Desperate to extend the legal process, the most recent J&J/Lifescan appeal necessarily attacked not just the law and the ruling against them, but also the Director of the USPTO and challenged the rights to render a decision as per agency dictates.

Keith Berman, Principal Executive Officer commented, “Pharma Tech has from the outset acted responsibly, professionally and ethically in the development and introduction of a superior and inexpensive blood glucose test strip. Lifescan responded to us, a new viable competitor, by initiating a relentless series of disingenuous attacks beginning even before the GenStrip market introduction. Their singular strategy has been to expend unlimited resources to eviscerate the product and company by employing any illegitimate tactic that they and their lawyers could devise. Pharma Tech has successfully weathered this onslaught for several years. Their latest appeal demonstrates a clear desperation to extend the legal battle and also a willingness to employ any tactic to do so.”

Since the fundamental premise of the latest J&J/Lifescan appeal concerns the propriety, conduct and legality of the actions and decisions of the USPTO, the United States government has joined Pharma Tech in the pursuit of its final litigation victory. The Solicitor General of the United States, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., has filed a notice of an intention to intervene in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Office of the Solicitor General will now join the Pharma Tech attorneys to finally and thoroughly extinguish their ‘105 patent infringement allegations.

Keith Berman continued, “We are now embarking on the final phase of this patent litigation. The legitimacy of our positions concerning the former J&J ‘105 patent have already been repeatedly acknowledged by the courts and we are confident they will once again be vindicated in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. Although we did not require the assistance of the Solicitor General to prevail, the support of the United States government is a vocal rejection of J&J’s positions and an apparent condemnation of the strategy that has been employed against us. We welcome the presence of the Solicitor General and look forward to working together with the United States government to complete our victory.”

Forward-Looking Statements:

This release contains forward-looking statements about our business or financial condition that reflect our assumptions and beliefs based on information currently available. We can give no assurance that the expectations indicated by such forward-looking statements will be realized. There may be other risks and circumstances that we are unable to predict. When used in this release, words such as “believes,” “expects,” “forecasts,” “intends,” “projects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “will” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although there may be certain statements not accompanied by such expressions.

For further information about the Pharma Tech GenStrip™ 50, please visit the company’s Web Sites: http://www.decisiondiagnostics.com or http://www.pharmatechdirect.com or http://www.new-genstrip.com.

GenStrip™ 50 test strips are a product of Pharma Tech Solutions, Inc., and are not manufactured, distributed, endorsed, or approved by nor associated with LifeScan, Inc. a Johnson & Johnson company, manufacturers and distributors of the OneTouch Ultra family of meters and OneTouch Ultra test strips.