By Blake Brittain

Oct 21 (Reuters) - Biotech company 10x Genomics TXG.O filed two lawsuits against rival Illumina ILMN.O in Delaware federal court on Tuesday, accusing Illumina of infringing patents related to 10x's genetic analysis technology.

10x alleged that Illumina's genomics kits and a gene-analysis platform announced by the company earlier this year misused 10x's innovations for analyzing RNA in tissue samples.

Illumina denied the allegations in a statement and said it will "vigorously defend" itself. 10x CEO Serge Saxonov said that Illumina "knows these technologies are protected by 10x patents, yet chose to copy rather than create."

The two lawsuits add to a web of patent cases brought by genomics companies against rivals in recent years.

Pleasanton, California-based 10x said that it pioneered single-cell genomics, "the study of gene activity on a cell-by-cell basis," and spatial transcriptomics, which "facilitates the study of gene activity in cells within their spatial context." 10x said that the technologies enable scientists to better understand diseases like cancer.

San Diego-based Illumina also sells single-cell gene analysis kits and announced its own spatial transcriptomics technology in February. The lawsuits said that Illumina's products infringe several 10x patents related to its competing technology.

10x requested an unspecified amount of monetary damages and court orders for Illumina to stop the alleged infringement.

The cases are 10x Genomics Inc v. Illumina Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:25-cv-01286 and 1:25-cv-01287.

For 10x: Matthew Powers, Paul Ehrlich, William Nelson and Azra Hadzimehmedovic of Tensegrity Law Group; Robert Gunther and Christopher Noyes of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr

For Illumina: attorney information not yet available

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)

((blake.brittain@tr.com; +1 (202) 938-5713))